Managing Corporate Innovation: Determinants, Critical Issues and Success Factors

224 Pages·2020·6.457 MB·English

by  Adalberto Rangone

Contributions to Management Science
Adalberto Rangone
Managing
Corporate
Innovation
Determinants, Critical Issues and Success
Factors
Contributions to Management Science
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/1505
Adalberto Rangone
Managing Corporate
Innovation
Determinants, Critical Issues and Success
Factors
AdalbertoRangone
DepartmentofEconomicsandManagement
UniversityofPavia
Pavia,Italy
ISSN1431-1941 ISSN2197-716X (electronic)
ContributionstoManagementScience
ISBN978-3-030-31767-6 ISBN978-3-030-31768-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31768-3
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One is drawn to speculate about the direction that research will take
inthefuture.Itismybeliefthatmeaningfulinsightsintothenatureand
consequences of technological change will be gleaned from richer
investigationsofbehaviouratthefirmlevel.Specifically,thereismuch
to be gained from a more complete understanding of the sources of
innovation within firms and the organizational factors influencing the
efficiency with which these sources are realized and exploited. One
should not be surprised to read a review essay on this same topic
10yearsfromnowandencounterabibliographystressingmanymore
works in organizational theory and communications.
(Link 1992)
Since everything, then, iscause andeffect,dependent andsupporting,
mediate and immediate, and all is held together by a natural though
imperceptiblechainwhichbindstogetherthingsmostdistantandmost
different, I hold it equally impossible to know the parts without
knowingthewholeandtoknowthewholewithoutknowingthepartsin
detail. [#72]
The least movement affects all nature; the entire sea changes because
of a rock. Thus, in grace, the least action affects everything by its
consequences; therefore, everything is important. In each action we
mustlookbeyondtheactionatourpast,present,andfuturestate,and
atotherswhomitaffects,andseetherelationsofallthosethings.And
then we shall be very cautious. [#505]
(Pascal 1660)
To my Father,
who taught me that nothing is impossible
To my Mother,
who taught me the meaning of the word
“imperturbable”
To my Sister,
who is always present
To Alessia,
for her patience and support
and above all
To Destiny,
which never ceases to amuse me.
Contents
PartI UnderstandingtheContextofCorporateInnovation
1 IntroductiontotheCorporateInnovationManagement. . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 WhyTalkAbouttheTechno–CorporateGap
andtheDifferenceswiththeTechnologicalGap. . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 CurrentTrendandCountriesInclinedtoInnovation. . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 TheContributionofthePresentWork. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 SystemicIntelligenceinSupportoftheThesis. . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 ResearchStructureandMethodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2 TheEvolutionoftheRelatedStudies:FromtheTechnological
GaptotheTechno–CorporateGap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 AnalysisoftheLiterature. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 19
2.2 ConsiderationsonTraditionalTheoreticalAnalysis. . . . . . . . . 23
2.3 InventionandInnovation. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4 AttheDawnofStudiesinThisSphere:TheTechnological
GapBetweenEuropeandtheUSA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.1 USDirectInvestmentsinEurope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.2 InvestmentinResearchandProductivity. . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.4.3 TheBalanceofTechnologicalPayments. . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.4.4 HumanCapitalFlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.5 AttemptstoMeasuretheTechnologicalGap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.6 HistoriaMagistraVitae:TheLessonsfromtheUSCase. . . . . 44
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3 InnovationandTechnology:TheAgeoftheDigitalEnterprise. . . . 49
3.1 TheConceptofInnovationandTechnologicalEvolution. . . . . 49
3.2 TechnologicalInteractionToolsinSupportofDigital
Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.2.1 HumanCapital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
ix
x Contents
3.2.2 ConnectivityandAccessibilitytoNew
Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.2.3 DigitizationofBusinessProcessesandE-Business. . . . 57
3.2.4 UseofInternet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.2.5 DigitalDevelopmentofPublicServices. . . . . . . . . . . . 64
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 WhatIstheFuturefortheDigitalEnterprise?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.1 FromIndustry4.0toIndustry5.0. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.2 TheSMARTCompany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.3 TheBlockchain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.4 Blockchain’sProspectsintheSupplyChain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
PartII UnderstandingtheCriticalFactorsofCorporateInnovation
5 ABenchmarkforInnovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.1 NordicCountriesasBestinClass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.2 TheStrategiesofNordicCountries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
5.3 FavorableConditionsfortheDevelopmentofNorthern
EuropeanEnterprises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
6 StimuliandDeterrentsfortheInnovativeDevelopment
ofEnterprises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.1 TheTechnical–OrganizationalGap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.2 ResearchActivitiesinSmallandLargeEnterprises. . . . . . . . . 97
6.3 InnovationTimingandRelatedRisksTheory. . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.4 SolutionsfortheRisks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.5 InstitutionalStimulitoInnovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6.6 PrivateEquityandCorporateGrowth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
6.7 FromMicrotoMacro:FamousCasesofStart-UpsThat
BecameColossi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.7.1 Google. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
6.7.2 Amazon. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 121
6.7.3 Uber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
7 CompanyLogicandInnovationStrategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.1 WhatIstheLogicBehindCorporateBehavior?. . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.2 DefinitionofCompanyLogicandItsManifestations. . . . . . . . 136
7.3 UnderstandingtheStrategyofLargeEnterprises. . . . . . . . . . . 139
7.4 IsThereaLogicBehindSmallandMediumEnterprises?. . . . . 144
7.5 ImportantCompanyLogicConditioningFactors. . . . . . . . . . . 148
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Contents xi
8 InnovationandControl:TwoAspectsThatAreDifficult
toReconcile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.1 TheCorporateGovernanceastheMaximumExpression
ofCompanyLogic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.2 DefinitionandContributionstotheStudy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
8.3 BureaucraticCostsandBusinessComplexity. . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.4 OwnershipStructureandControl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
8.5 ConsiderationsonCriticalIssuesintheCorporate
GovernanceTheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
8.6 FinancialModelandManagerialMyopia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
8.7 FromAgentstoOwners:TheManagementBuyout. . . . . . . . . 175
8.8 TheInnovationManagerasaResponsetotheChallenges
ofSMEs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
9 TheTechno–CorporateGapinItaly:CriticalFactors
andPossibleSolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.1 TheImportantDoctrinalHeritage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.1.1 ValueCreationandOwnershipStructure. . . . . . . . . . . 187
9.2 TheStatusQuaestionisinItaly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
9.3 EmpiricalEvidenceontheTechno–CorporateGapinItaly. . . . 196
9.4 HowMuchDoestheAbsenceofGovernanceAffect
InnovativeDevelopmentinItaly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10 AdditionalStrategiestoSupportInnovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
10.1 Spin-OffinItaly:AResourcetoIncentivize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
10.2 BankingFoundations:PossibleVentureCapitalists?. . . . . . . . 206
10.3 TechnicalAgreementswithForeignCompanies. . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.4 JointVenturesandCompetitiveAdvantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
10.5 BusinessNetworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10.6 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220