Ethical control of innovation in a globalized and liberal world: Is good science still science?

The independence of science was long seen as of prime importance. This position has become less common today. The perception of scientific research as a public service has led to the opinion that it must be accountable to citizens and produce knowledge and innovation that meet their expectations. Numerous authors have voiced the need for anticipatory ethical control of innovation focusing on the scientific research process. This control is considered as the must-have guarantee for “good science.” The current article attempts to trace the ideological origins of the ethical control of innovation, examines its effectiveness against the challenge of globalization and technology-derived major threats and its compatibility with scientific methodology. It also suggests ways to both regulate the innovation process and preserve the independence of science. On the whole, we conclude that truly effective ethical regulation of innovation, i.e. one that protects the greatest number from its adverse effects, is achieved first and foremost by questioning our liberal economic model and the place given to science in our societies.     

Does combining different types of collaboration always benefit firms? Collaboration,complementarity and product innovation in Norway

Product innovation is widely thought to benefit from collaboration with both scientific and supply-chain partners. The combination of exploration and exploitation capacity, and of scientific and experience-based knowledge, are expected to yield multiplicative effects. However, the assumption that scientific and supply-chain collaboration are complementary and reinforce firm-level innovation has not been examined empirically. This paper tests this assumption on an unbalanced panel sample of 8337 firm observations in Norway, covering the period 2006–2010. The results of the econometric analysis go against the orthodoxy. They show that Norwegian firms do not benefit from doing “more of all” on their road to innovation. While individually both scientific and supply-chain collaboration improve the chances of firm-level innovation, there is a significant negative interaction between them. This implies that scientific and supply-chain collaboration, in contrast to what has been often highlighted, are substitutes rather than complements. The results are robust to the introduction of different controls and hold for all tested innovation outcomes: product innovation, new-to-market product innovation, and share of turnover from new products.     

Information management for innovation networks—an empirical study on the “who,what and how” in networked innovation

Innovation networks are vital in advancing new product and service development. Particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, partnering within innovation networks allows to enlarge innovation capabilities and to reach new markets. In order to create effective innovation networks, however, firms are required to adapt to the network. To do so, they must overcome three principal challenges: they need to build partnerships, integrate the partners’ value contributions, and coordinate innovation processes. We followed three innovation networks over a three-year period and examined how they successfully used information systems (IS) to respond to these challenges. On the basis of their experiences we identify IS categories and measures that support setting up an information management for networked innovation. We explicate relevant tasks for managing the aspects of “who, what and how” in networked innovation.     

Impact of scientific and technological innovation policies on innovation efficiency of high-technology industrial parks – A dual analysis with linear regression and QCA

Scientific and technological innovation policies play a critical role in the innovative development of high-technology industrial parks. However, it remains unclear how scientific and technological innovation policies impact the innovation efficiency of high-technology industrial parks and what the impact pathways are. An in-depth investigation of this topic can give an insight into the inherent relation between the scientific and technological innovation policies and technological innovation. By conducting a theoretical analysis, this study empirically analyzed the impact of scientific and technological innovation policies on the innovation efficiency of high-technology industrial parks. The main research methods applied in this study were linear regression and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The results showed that the policy targets drove innovation efficiency in a relatively minor way. Among all policy tools, the demand-based policy tools had the most significant influence on innovation efficiency. The supply-based and environment-based policy tools had notable positive impacts during the lag periods of policies. The policy mix pathways for scientific and technological innovation policies that impact innovation efficiency come in four forms, namely, the targets-directed, demand-driven, supply-dominated environment optimization, and environment-dominated comprehensive pathways. Therefore, this study put forward proposals on classifying and refining the scientific and technological innovation policies and optimizing the policy mix-driven models.     

Technology strategies and standard competition — Comparative innovation cases of Apple and Microsoft

This paper analyses the technology strategy and standard competition of the most outstanding innovation cases of Apple and Microsoft. The objective of the study is to understand innovators' pursuit of strategies in securing the benefits from an innovation, based on the innovation life cycle model. The study develops a new methodological framework of platform for analysing the case studies. It is argued that the ability to establish an industry standard and lock-in customers enables an innovator to create a competitive advantage. The study offers important lessons in strategic innovation management.     

Information culture and records management: a suitable match? Conceptualizations of information culture and their application on records management

Good information and records management is assumed to promote organizational efficiency. Despite established management regimes and available technology, many organizations still consider information and records management challenging. The reason may be cultural factors. This study based on a literature review, aims to explore the academic discourse on information culture and to discuss its relevance for records management. The findings show that the concept information culture is used in various ways: as an explanatory framework; as an analytical and evaluative tool; or as normative standard. The research on information culture addresses several areas: business performance, systems implementation, the manifestation of information culture in different organizations, and a few concerns records management practices. The research settings and the objects of study varied, why general conclusions are difficult to draw, but often a positive correlation between culture and performance is assumed. The focus has been on how information is used, shared and disseminated, while the production and management, that is the vital object of records management, has with few exceptions been neglected. If information culture should fully function as an analytical framework concerning records management, a widened and more inclusive conceptualization is required, which also will enrich information culture as a theoretical concept.     

Acceptance of Chinese latecomers' technological contributions in international ICT standardization — The role of origin,experience and collaboration

As technical standards are an important part of China's industrial transformation towards an innovation-driven economy, Chinese organizations have started to deploy substantial resources in recent years to take on a leading role in international ICT standardization. However, many Chinese organizations experience, similar to other latecomers to standardization, limited success when contributing to standardization processes, a phenomenon also referred to as the standardization gap. The literature on standardization to date has paid little attention to how Chinese latecomers enter and influence international standardization processes that have traditionally been shaped by organizations from industrialized countries. We therefore analyze the country-of-origin effect as well as factors such as experience and collaboration for successful contributions of Chinese organizations to standards. Using data from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and binary logistic regression analysis, we are able to show that, in our sample, contributions from Chinese latecomers are significantly less likely to be accepted than those from more established actors from industrialized economies. Moreover, our findings indicate that experience is closely associated with success in international ICT standardization, but not moderated by national origin. Therefore, Chinese latecomers might not be able to catch up if they move at the same pace as established competitors. They need to find a way to leapfrog extensive development steps, narrow the standardization capability gap, and thus strengthen their participation and influence. One way to do so might be through strategic collaboration, as our results suggest that Chinese organizations benefit more from collaborating with organizations from more established regions than vice versa, on which we call for further research to establish the causal mechanisms.     

The war on poverty and social science research, 1965–1980

Declaration of the War on Poverty in the U.S. in 1965 was accompanied by a substantial increase in Federal research spending on the poverty problem in subsequent years. Both an input and output indicator are used to analyze the impact of this policy initiative on the social science disciplines. Both indicators—Federal poverty research expenditures and poverty-related Journal content—indicate that, from 1965 to 1985. poverty-related research has grown from a very low base to about 7–10 percent of social science research activity.     

Chinese science and technology personnel＇s views on academic misconduct： A survey result of 30,000 science and technology personnel

对全国三万名科技工作者的抽样问卷调查结果显示：接近半数的科技工作者认为当前学术不端行为是普遍现象;超过一半的科技工作者表示确切知道自己周围的研究者有过“抄袭剽窃”、“弄虚作假”和“一稿多发”和“在没有参与的研究成果上署名”等至少一种学术不端行为。多数被调查者认为当前“学术评价制度不合理”是造成学术不端行为的最主要原因。相当部分科技工作者对学术不端持宽容态度。科技工作者对学术规范的了解情况堪忧,近四成科技工作者表示自己对科研道德和学术规范了解很少或者不了解,近一半的人从来没有系统地学习过科研道德和学术规范的知识。根据调查结果,文章提出了治理学术不端行为的政策建议。     

Global excellence at the expense of local diffusion, or a bridge between two worlds? Research in science and technology in the developing world

Do world-leading researchers from developing countries contribute to upgrading locally, or do they disengage from the local context? The paper investigates the scientific collaborations of university-based science and technology researchers in the database of the South African National Research Foundation (NRF), and analyses the co-authorships of researchers who were ranked by the NRF during the 2001-2007 period. To establish the extent to which a researcher can access knowledge outside the South African academic science and technology research community, and share it inside that community, we develop a measure of ‘gatekeeping’. The evidence suggests that there is not a local/global trade-off in knowledge creation in academia in the developing world, and that the world-leading researchers in developing countries may play an especially important role as conduits of new knowledge in their country.     

On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports

This paper aims at exploring how the export competitiveness of the European Union has been affected by environmental regulation and innovation. Starting from the Porter idea that environmental policies may foster international competitiveness by inducing technological innovation. We test both the strong and narrowly strong versions of the Porter hypothesis, in order to understand if such a virtuous cycle is confined into the environmental goods sector (respecting the narrow criterion) or it spreads out through the whole economic system. For this purpose we adopt a theoretically based gravity model applied to the export dynamics of five aggregated manufacturing sectors classified by their technological or environmental content.When testing the strong version, the overall effect of environmental policies does not seem to be harmful for export competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, whereas specific energy tax policies and innovation efforts positively influence export flows dynamics, revealing a Porter-like mechanism. When testing the narrowly strong version, environmental policies, but more incisively environmental innovation efforts, foster green exports. These results show that public policies and private innovation patterns both trigger higher efficiency in the production process through various complementarity mechanisms, thus turning the perception of environmental protection actions as a production cost into a net benefit.     

The impact of network ties strength and enterprises＇ learning capability on the technological innovation

网络关系强度作为表征企业网络的重要变量之一,理论界关于其对企业技术创新的影响尚存在较大的争议。本文以企业规模和研发投入作为控制变量,构建了网络关系强度、企业学习能力和技术创新三者之间的关系理论模型,并以申报广东省高新技术企业和民营科技型企业的企业为调查对象进行了实证检验。研究发现：（1）企业网络关系强度和学习能力都对技术创新存在着显著的正向影响。（2）企业学习能力在网络关系强度和技术创新之间起到不完全中介作用。（3）在小规模企业中,这三者之间并不存在相互影响的关系。本研究进一步深化了前人的研究结论,对组织网络及技术创新的相关研究都有学术贡献。     

Theories,methods and current research on emotions in library and information science,information retrieval and human–computer interaction

Emotions are an integral component of all human activities, including human–computer interactions. This article reviews literature on the theories of emotions, methods for studying emotions, and their role in human information behaviour. It also examines current research on emotions in library and information science, information retrieval and human–computer interaction, and outlines some of the challenges and directions for future work.     

Same but different? Research and technology organizations,universities and the innovation activities of firms

Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) and universities are important elements of countries’ innovation systems. As they are both halfway between science and industry, they are often considered to be the same thing. However, recent studies have stressed the differences between the two. In this paper, we analyze the innovative characteristics (impacts and types of innovation and internal R&D investments) of firms that collaborate with RTOs versus universities. Our study is based on statistical analysis of Community Innovation Survey micro-data (CIS 2012). Our results suggest that firms that see RTOs as more important sources of knowledge than universities have a higher probability of developing service innovation, invest less in internal R&D but are less likely to introduce new, groundbreaking innovations into the market. These results have significant policy and management implications, especially regarding the different but complementary contributions offered respectively by RTOs and universities.     

How and when information proactiveness leads to operational firm performance in the banking sector of Pakistan? The roles of open innovation,creative cognitive style,and climate for innovation

Utilizing the assumptions of the Resource-based theory, this study examined how and why new, rare, and inimitable resources in the form of information proactiveness motivation influence operational firm performance. We hypothesized open innovation as a mediator between information proactiveness motivation and operational firm performance. We also hypothesized the interactive effects of an individual’s creative cognitive style and information proactiveness motivation on open innovation whereas climate for innovation and open innovation jointly influence operational firm performance. A temporally segregated data (n = 260) was collected in three-time intervals from employees working in the banking sector of Islamabad, Pakistan. Utilizing the PROCESS approach, the findings of the study indicate that open innovation mediates the relationship between information proactiveness motivation, and operational firm performance. Moreover, the creative cognitive style was found to moderate the relationship between information proactiveness motivation and open innovation whereas climate for innovation emerged as a moderator between open innovation and operational firm performance. This research focused on unique information and contextual resources which directly and indirectly play significant roles in promoting the firm's open innovation and subsequent operational firm performance.     

Innovation with ‘Chinese’ characteristics? Reflecting on the implications of an ethnic-based paradigm of management and innovation

Cultural studies seem to dominate the field of management and innovation in China. Researchers have defined and considered Confucianism and a number of common, transnational Asian/Chinese values and practices allegedly unifying China and parts of East Asia. These values and practices have been erected as the cultural pillars of ‘Chinese management’, ‘Chinese entrepreneurship’ and, more recently, ‘indigenous innovation’ in the ethnic Chinese world and now mainland China. We believe these values and practices, frequently claimed as unique and fueling innovation in Chinese firms, to be potentially manipulated for strategic purposes, by political authorities as well as business organizations. This paper examines the aforementioned premises and questions the notions of Chinese ethnicity, values, management and innovation from political and strategic perspectives. We first present the emergence of Chinese values and Chinese management. We then consider this emergence in relation to political agendas and the renewal of Asianism or New Confucianism. The second part of the paper analyzes how such values and ethnicity can be utilized by entrepreneurs for both defensive and offensive business purposes. We then illustrate our debate with some reflections on the Shanzhai form of indigenous innovation before concluding with implications for researchers, managers and entrepreneurs and discussing the dangers of exoticism and avenues for future empirical research.     

Mario Bunge (1919–2020): Physicist,philosopher, champion of science,and citizen of the world

Mario Bunge, the centenarian Argentine/Canadian physicist/philosopher passed away in the loving company of his wife Marta and children Eric and Silvia on February 24, 2020 in Montréal, Ontario. This memoriam reviews his life and work, particularly his contributions to physics and philosophy of science.