No abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of technological cooperation with suppliers (TCS) and the firm size on propensity to develop product innovations and on propensity to radical innovations. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses data from Business Strategies Survey (ESSE in Spanish). The final sample was composed by 1,952 companies representing the Spanish manufacturing industries. Some control variables were introduced: age, propensity to export and sector technological intensity level. Logistic regression analyses were adopted to analyze the data. Findings – The results indicate that those firms that cooperate technologically with suppliers have a greater propensity for product innovation and, specifying, for radical innovations; and the larger firm size, greater the propensity to product innovations. However, radical product innovations depend of some characteristics of firms and environment. Research limitations/implications – The sample just focusses on Spanish manufacturing companies. Small firms will benefit more from the TCS. Practical implications – Some characteristics of firms and environment can originate some rigidity and take a more conservative attitude. In this sense, large and small firms, as well as, the oldest firms have a more conservative attitude when they carry out radical product innovations. Originality/value – The study contributes to product innovation literature and also to the debate regarding firm size and innovation. It distinguishes between radical and incremental innovations. Indeed, some characteristics of firms (such as size or age) and environment should be considered when the firms carry out the innovation process.

PurposeIn this paper, we study the influence of temporary workers in the relationship between innovation effort and product innovation in a large sample of Spanish manufacturing firms in a six-year period.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses a zero-inflated regression model to analyse how the performance of innovation efforts is affected by the impact of temporary employment.FindingsOur results show that the use of temporary employment has adverse effects for the conversion of innovation investments into innovation outputs. Firms with higher levels of fixed-term workers have less product innovations in comparison to firms that do not use this kind of workforce. However, this negative impact is less detrimental in technological-intensive sectors.Originality/valueThe value of this research for employment relations is salient as workers long-term protection seems to enhance the effectiveness of the innovation process. At the same time, the effects of temporary work vary depending on the sector.

<p>The goal of this paper is to expose the planning and implementation of a learning improvement app in subjects related to Operations Management in Bachelor`s Degrees. We show the experience of the app in two subjects, commenting on the differences, the difficulties encountered and the analysis of the results of a survey conducted to the students. This initiative arises from the experience of the Research Group on Production and Information and Communication Technologies (GIPTIC-UCM) of the Complutense University of Madrid as a result of the participation in an Educational Innovation Project.</p>

<p><em>This paper aims to show how an app can be a very useful tool to improve learning through knowledge management among students and professors. We will show the results of the survey to students from four Spanish universities on the use of the app. The results show that for the students the app is useful to review; to bring the subject up to date; to remember; to learn; to know and understand.</em></p>