Angelo Natalicchio, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli and Achille Claudio Garavelli
The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how the technological diversifications of collaborating firms and public research organisations (PROs) affect the technological…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand if and how the technological diversifications of collaborating firms and public research organisations (PROs) affect the technological impact of the resulting joint-patented innovations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct an analysis on a database of 590 dyadic joint patents, assigned to both firms and PROs, registered from 1976 to 2010 to the US Patent and Trademark Office and belonging to green technological classes, as defined by the International Patent Classification green inventory.
Findings
The study reveals that the assignees’ technological diversification has a significant influence on the impact of the patents jointly developed. Indeed, the results show that the most impactful joint patents result from collaborations involving technologically diversified firms.
Research limitations/implications
This research sheds further light on the establishment of R&D collaborations between firms and PROs to jointly innovate. Specifically, it provides a novel perspective to investigate the impact of joint patents, by focussing on the assignees’ technological profile.
Practical implications
The present work suggests that firms characterised by a higher degree of technological diversification are more likely to co-develop patent of higher technological impact, as resulting from collaboration with PROs.
Originality/value
This study investigates the factors affecting the impact of joint patents resulting from collaborations between firms and PROs. In particular, the present research focusses on the effect of a relevant characteristic of the partners, such as their technological diversification.
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Lorenzo Ardito, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli, Umberto Panniello and Achille Claudio Garavelli
The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive picture of the innovative efforts undertaken over time to develop the digital technologies for managing the interface…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive picture of the innovative efforts undertaken over time to develop the digital technologies for managing the interface between supply chain management and marketing processes and the role they play in sustaining supply chain management-marketing (SCM-M) integration from an information processing point of view.
Design/methodology/approach
Patent analysis and actual examples are used to carry out this study. In detail, first, the authors identify the subset of enabling technologies pertaining to the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) that can be considered the most relevant for effective SCM-M integration (i.e. Industrial Internet of Things, Cloud computing, Big Data analytics and customer profiling, Cyber security). Second, the authors carry out a patent analysis aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the patenting activity trends characterizing the set of digital technologies under investigation, hence highlighting their innovation dynamics and applications.
Findings
This research provides insightful information about which digital technologies may enable the SCM-M integration. Specifically, the authors highlight the role those solutions play in terms of information acquisition, storage and elaboration for SCM-M integration by relying on illustrative actual examples. Moreover, the authors present the organisations more involved in the development of digital technologies for SCM-M integration over time and offer an examination of their technological impact in terms of influence on subsequent technological developments.
Originality/value
So far, much has been said about why marketing and supply chain management functions should be integrated. However, a clear picture of the digital technologies that might be adopted to achieve this objective has yet to be revealed. Thus, the paper contributes to the literature on SCM-M integration and Industry 4.0 by highlighting the enabling technologies for the Industry 4.0 that may particularly serve for managing the SCM-M interface from an information processing perspective.
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Barbara Scozzi, Claudio Garavelli and Kevin Crowston
Sets out to investigate business modeling techniques (BMTs) which can be used to support and improve innovation processes within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).
Abstract
Purpose
Sets out to investigate business modeling techniques (BMTs) which can be used to support and improve innovation processes within small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a literature review, different analysis perspectives on innovation processes are identified and discussed, and some firm needs and problems are pointed out. The importance of BMTs to firms is further tested by an empirical study whose initial results are reported. Finally, by matching problems and techniques characterized by the same ontology, the BMTs most suitable to address SME needs are identified and their role within the innovation process discussed.
Findings
The main result of the paper is the identification of the problems facing SMEs in innovation processes and the possible support offered by BMTs. Though methods and models alone do not assure the success in the innovation development process (IDP), they are enabling factors and can support the creation of strategies, reasoning, insights and communication.
Originality/value
The adoption of such BMTs, facilitating the codification of the characteristics of the IDP, might be particularly useful in those environments where, due to the lack of specialized resources, it is difficult to structure all of the information related to the innovation process and to exploit the related benefits and opportunities
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Claudio Dell'Era, Tommaso Buganza and Roberto Verganti
Product functionalities aim to satisfy the operative needs of the customer, while product meanings (i.e. the emotion and the symbolic values represented by the product) aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
Product functionalities aim to satisfy the operative needs of the customer, while product meanings (i.e. the emotion and the symbolic values represented by the product) aim to satisfy the emotional and socio‐cultural needs of the customer. What consumers are increasingly looking for in consumer products are new forms of psychological satisfaction that go beyond normal and simple consumption; today, more than ever, products define their own presence not only through their attributes, but also through the meanings that they assume, through the dialogue that they establish with the user, and also through the symbolic nature that they emanate. Figures of speech can be exploited to emphasise a message or a meaning. The purpose of this paper is to propose an application of rhetorical figures to product design that will make them more communicative.
Design/methodology/approach
Specifically, the authors propose the “Rhetorical Innovation Process” as a methodology that foresees the application of figures of speech as semantic operators. First, the authors discuss several product innovations that can be interpreted according to the “Rhetorical Innovation Process”. Then, a brief workshop assignment in the strategic design course at the Faculty of Industrial Design of Politecnico di Milano explored the potentialities of the method in relation to different product typologies: 40 Italian master students were divided into eight groups (five industrial design students each) in order to develop five products per group.
Findings
The results obtained by design students demonstrated as figures of speech can stimulate associations with other contexts and modifications to existing architecture. The exploration of the “rhetorical innovation process” in collaboration with eight design student teams has shown that this method can support and enrich the concept generation phase. Moreover, four configurations proposed by the “rhetorical innovation process” allow one to generate different alternatives supporting the creative process and allowing the identification of strengths and weaknesses associated to each solution.
Originality/value
The method described in the paper elucidates the structure and process adopted by several designers and also illustrates an effective framework for communicating choices to their clients. In particular, the cross‐context associations proposed in the “rhetorical innovation process” provide additional insights and incentives during the concept generation.