David Doloreux and Ekaterina Turkina
This paper aims to explore the effects of multiple external sources of knowledge and of the use of winemaker consultants on innovation in the Canadian wine industry.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the effects of multiple external sources of knowledge and of the use of winemaker consultants on innovation in the Canadian wine industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for the study are taken from an original survey of wine firms in Canada covering the 2007-2009 period. The survey was carried out by computer-assisted telephone interviews, and it was addressed to winery firms that are engaged in growing grapes and producing wine.
Findings
The results show that the use of winemaker consultants positively affects all forms of innovation. At the same, as far as external knowledge sources are concerned, marketing sources positively affect all types of innovation, while research sources and general sources have a positive influence on particular forms of innovation. The results also show that winemaker consultants interact with other knowledge sources. Nevertheless, there are important nuances with regard to which type of knowledge sources is more compatible with the use of winemaker consultants for which type of innovation.
Originality/value
To date, there is no empirical evidence of the extent to which the use of external winemaker consultants and external knowledge sources interact together and what are their impacts on the introduction of different forms of innovation.
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David Doloreux and Anthony Frigon
Despite the importance of innovation in and the growth of the wine industry in recent years, empirical research devoted to innovation in this industry remains scarce. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the importance of innovation in and the growth of the wine industry in recent years, empirical research devoted to innovation in this industry remains scarce. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to filling this gap by exploring innovation among Canadian wine firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in this paper are drawn from an original firm-level survey conducted between April and July 2018 to study the business and innovation strategies of Canadian winery firms over the 2015–2017 period.
Findings
First, the study has identified four innovation modes which are distinct in terms of firms’ strategy, innovation activities, and knowledge sourcing and openness. The second finding is that these different innovation modes are associated with different innovation outputs. The third finding is that there here is a tendency for certain innovation modes to better reflect firms in some regions, although all innovation modes are represented to different degrees in each of the three wine regions.
Originality/value
Empirical research devoted to innovation in this industry remains scarce. This paper contributes to filling this gap by exploring innovation among Canadian wine firms. These firms deal with several challenges and opportunities arising from the production and transformation of cool-climate grapes that impact on business innovation approaches.
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Manuel H. Gübeli and David Doloreux
The paper is concerned with spin‐off firms and the process by which a new firm is created and formed from a university. The objectives are to examine characteristics of firms…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper is concerned with spin‐off firms and the process by which a new firm is created and formed from a university. The objectives are to examine characteristics of firms generated by this process, and the intensity of the spin‐off firms' network activity with the parent organisation and the local environment during this process.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings are based on a case‐study consisting out of three firms spun‐off from a research centre at Linköping University in the area of visualisation and computer graphics. The source data are gathered from semi‐structured interviews. No generalisation should be drawn from this study due to the small number of firms interviewed and the scope of the technological area addressed.
Findings
The results show the importance of collaboration between the university spin‐off, with both the parental organisation and outside organisms, to acquire external competencies in the technological area. The parental organisation plays a pivotal role in the spin‐off process, especially in its early stage where its catalyses the emergence of the business idea by supporting the spin‐off firm with infrastructure and expertise in a specific field of mentorship. However, as the spin‐off evolves, this pre‐incubation service complements yet more support services of municipality and region, which stand to be more important in the technological and business development of the spin‐off.
Originality/value
University spin‐offs have an important place in the innovation process, but their promotion must be part of a wider policy package encouraging networking not only with the host university, but with industry and the public sector as well. For universities and public research organisations, it is advisable to take a more active role in the spin‐off process beyond the pre‐incubation stage.
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David Doloreux, Tyler Chamberlin and Sarah Ben‐Amor
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sectoral variety and common patterns of innovation in the wine industry. It intends to explore the nature, extent and sources of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sectoral variety and common patterns of innovation in the wine industry. It intends to explore the nature, extent and sources of variety of innovation in the Canadian wineries.
Design/methodology/approach
The data employed come from a firm‐level survey addressed to 146 wine establishments in Canada. Results were analysed using factor analysis and non‐parametric statistical analysis.
Findings
The results reveal wineries tend to introduce many innovation activities which are internalised or externalised, draw on a variety of different sources of information, with a clear distinction between market sources, government sources (laboratories, research centres) and educational establishments, and introduced different types of innovation, including product and process but also organisational innovation.
Practical implications
The results suggest individual wineries innovate differently, but within a limited number of fairly consistent modes.
Originality/value
There is presently no published research investigating the different modes of innovation with regards to the wine industry and the case of Canada can provide valuable insights to understand how innovation is developed and sustained in cool climate regions.
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David Doloreux and Evelyne Lord‐Tarte
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the spatial organisation of the open innovation model in the wine industry in Canada.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the spatial organisation of the open innovation model in the wine industry in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a micro‐firm level survey among 146 wine firms in Canada. Descriptive and non‐parametric tests are used in the analysis.
Findings
The results on the occurrence of collaborations depict modest collaborative activities with external sources. Most of the collaborations and information are sourced locally because the local climate and growing conditions are so specific that alternative sources and collaborations are less relevant. The results also show that the firm's openness strategy has a weak influence on innovation capacity but firms that introduce more innovations are those that embrace an open innovation strategy to a greater extent than the less innovative.
Research limitations/implications
The number of respondents is still limited (i.e. about 150). Moreover, only the relationship between some firm‐specific factors related to innovation and the degree of openness is studied.
Practical implications
The paper provides managerial implications because it suggests that firms adopting an open innovation strategy through collaborations have a higher impact on innovation development by means of introducing new types of innovation and on R&D activities.
Originality/value
The paper introduces the spatial dimension of the open innovation strategy in the wine industry in order to understand the link between the geographically‐dispersed open innovation networks and their impacts on innovation capacities and innovation development of winery firms.
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Yulong (David) Liu, Henry F.L. Chung, Zuopeng (Justin) Zhang and Mian Wu
Drawing on a strategic agility perspective, the authors develop a theoretical framework and empirically examine how digital platform adoption and capability impact business…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on a strategic agility perspective, the authors develop a theoretical framework and empirically examine how digital platform adoption and capability impact business performance via digital-enabled strategic agility in the context of professional service firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors propose and examine a conceptual framework based on survey data from 127 professional service firms in New Zealand.
Findings
This study reveals the impact of digital platform capability on the business performance of professional service firms that employ digital platform technologies. The results suggest that organizational innovation and managers' creative efficacy will be used as distal antecedents and contribute to digital platform capabilities. In addition, digital strategic agility can mediate the link between digital platform capabilities and business performance.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to investigate when and how digital platforms empower professional service firms. This study reveals the role of digital strategic agility and digital platform capabilities in knowledge-intensive enterprises. This research advances the development of knowledge-based economy in the information age by applying and extending strategic agility to the uncertain and volatile business environment. The authors' new conceptualization provides a deeper understanding of how and why professional services business and organizations can adapt to the post-COVID era smoothly and successfully.
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Maribel Guerrero, David Urbano and Eduardo Gajón
Within a knowledge-driven, entrepreneurial economy, an increase in a university’s importance is observed because of its significant affect on the economy. Thus, entrepreneurship…
Abstract
Within a knowledge-driven, entrepreneurial economy, an increase in a university’s importance is observed because of its significant affect on the economy. Thus, entrepreneurship is a phenomenon that could be observed among all university levels: management, academicians, researchers, and undergraduate and postgraduate students. Entrepreneurial universities could produce several externalities in terms of demography, economy, infrastructure, culture, mobility, education, and societal challenges that will later be reflected in productivity, competitive advantages, and regional capacities, networks, identity, and innovation. In this context, entrepreneurial universities have or are positioned to develop innovative pathways to reinforce entrepreneurship in their communities. This chapter explores how entrepreneurial university pathways (education and training) have had an impact on students’ start-up intentions and actions. Adopting the institutional economics approach, this research proposes a conceptual model, tested with a sample of 1,759 university students enrolled in three entrepreneurial universities (ITESM, Mexico; UNICAMP, Brazil; and UPC, Chile) in Latin America. Our findings confirm the relevant effect of entrepreneurial university pathways on start-up creation. Not only do the results provide important contributions to the literature, they also provide insights for policy-makers to design policies that further benefit society and educational organizations.