The more the merrier? Network portfolio size and innovation performance in Nigerian firms

Egbetokun, Abiodun

doi:10.1016/j.technovation.2015.05.004

Cited by 21 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 71 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Establishment of IPs aims to counter weaknesses in agricultural innovation systems by building interaction amongst different kinds of actors, promoting change in institutions, and garnering resources to augment and/or effectively deploy available capitals (Adekunle and Fatunbi, 2014;Schut et al, 2015). The approach builds on the well-established association between networks and innovation (Egbetokun, 2015;Pittaway et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding innovation platform effectiveness through experiences from west and central Africa

Davies

Maru

Hall

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

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Innovation platforms (IPs) are a way of organizing multistakeholder interactions, marshalling ideas, people and resources to address challenges and opportunities embedded in complex settings. The approach has its roots in theories of complexity, the concept of innovation systems and practices of participatory action research. IPs have been widely adopted across Africa and beyond in recent years as a "must have" tool in a range of "for development" modes of agricultural research. Our experiences with establishing and facilitating nine IPs in local settings in west and central Africa contribute to understanding factors that impact on their effectiveness. The nine IPs were variously focused on developing dairy, crop and/or meat value chains by strengthening mixed crop-livestock production systems or seed systems. Using case study methods, we identified variables that contribute to explaining the performance of these IPs in relation to six domains of change in the agricultural system and the sustainability of changes. Thematic analysis was guided by a conceptual framework which grouped variables into four categories (context, structure, conduct, and process) that interact to influence IP performance. Stronger market connections and value chains were generated through some of these IPs but the most prevalent changes overall were in farm productivity and technical knowledge of producers. The structures evolved in some IPs, akin to those of producer collectives, suggested they were filling an institutional gap locally. The effect of the IPs on deeper level institutions that influence agricultural systems and food security was modest, constraining prospects for the IPs to generate impact at scale. Impacts from the IPs on research and development organisations were uncommon but had transformative significance. Our conceptual framework did not offer optimal guidance to understanding how the many variables that contributed to performance of these IPs combined and sequenced, but the pattern of interactions was consistent with increased social capital being the prime mediator for change. Achieving greater prospects for transformational

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding innovation platform effectiveness through experiences from west and central Africa

Davies

Maru

Hall

et al. 2018

Agricultural Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Most research focuses mainly from the structural characteristics of innovation networks and the relationship with innovation efficiency. Some scholars argue that the structural characteristics of innovation networks will affect the flow and absorption of knowledge among innovation actors (Corey, ), including the relationship strength (Inkpen & Tsang, ; Rost, ), network density (Clifton et al, ; Egbetokun, ), and network location (Colazo, ; Glückler, ). Scholars have extensively explored the spatial scale of innovation networks, but the existing research focuses on the theoretical concept, so that the empirical work and comparative analyses are rare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The best spatial scale of firm innovation networks: Evidence from Shanghai high‐tech firms

et al. 2018

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Innovation networks are the channel of firms’ access to knowledge. Taking Shanghai high‐tech firms as a case study, this paper discusses the differences among biomedical, electronic information, new materials and equipment manufacturing firms from different spatial scales such as the global, local, and glocal. The spatial scale of firm innovation networks is divided into global, national, city and glocal scales The efficiency of national innovation networks is the highest, followed by glocal innovation networks, while city and global innovation network efficiency is lower. The efficiency of high‐tech firm innovation networks is affected by industrial characteristics and spatial distance. The differences in efficiency among innovation networks of Shanghai high‐tech firms are significant.

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“…Recent research suggests differing effects of APD on innovation novelty (Oerlemans et al, 2013) and reduced utility from alliance variety as firms become more innovative (Egbetokun, 2015). Radical innovation represents a dramatic departure from existing products in terms of technology and generate greater information processing and exposure to a variety of knowledge domains (Wuyts et al, 2004, Leifer et al, 2000.…”

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confidence: 99%

Capturing value from alliance portfolio diversity: The mediating role of R&D human capital in high and low tech industries

2017

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Research has demonstrated the value of external linkages to augment in-house R&D efforts; however, very little is known about how managers can operationally leverage the potential benefits of open innovation to create an innovative edge. This paper examines the value of alliance portfolio diversity and whether R&D human capital is the pathway through which alliance portfolio diversity influences innovation novelty. We reason that the absorptive capacity of R&D human capital alliance portfolios. Using data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the period 2005 2012, results support the curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) association between alliance portfolio diversity and firm innovation performance reported in studies, suggesting that not only too little, but also too much alliance portfolio diversity may be detrimental to firm innovation performance. Findings emphasise the value of alliance portfolio diversity in high-technology industries to achieve explorative performance objectives, given the technological complexity, market uncertainty and the divergent skill sets required for breakthrough innovations in these sectors. Further, we find evidence that R&D human capital plays an important role in innovation novelty by partially mediating the relationship between alliance partner diversity and firm innovation performance, emphasising the importance of internal capabilities to harness external knowledge assets.This study provides valuable insights to managers aiming to increase the effectiveness of their alliance portfolios.

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The more the merrier? Network portfolio size and innovation performance in Nigerian firms

Cited by 21 publications

References 71 publications

Understanding innovation platform effectiveness through experiences from west and central Africa

Understanding innovation platform effectiveness through experiences from west and central Africa

The best spatial scale of firm innovation networks: Evidence from Shanghai high‐tech firms

Capturing value from alliance portfolio diversity: The mediating role of R&D human capital in high and low tech industries

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