Our Anti-Intellectual Property Rights System

The chapter explains why, properly used, intellectual property rights (IPR) are an elegant solution to the real problems of the inappropriability and indivisibility of innovation. Under free market conditions, these factors lead to a situation in which it is just not worth it to innovate, since even if successful, the innovator will not be able to enjoy high enough profits to recoup the initial investment. The theory behind IPR is that by granting them we can diminish the problems of inappropriability and indivisibility, and thus stimulate innovation. However, the positive welfare outcomes of innovation happen only when it is widely diffused and produces a lot of spillovers, which by definition do not generate profits. Accordingly, solutions that give too strong and full property rights risk slowing down innovation. As such, those solutions can become a cure that is worse than the disease. Sadly, we have come to a point where our patent, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets systems favor the incumbent and the rich and stifle innovation. For locales, existing IPR act as a punitive restriction on their companies and entrepreneurs’ freedom to operate. Accordingly, communities that wish to enjoy sustained innovation-based growth must game the system to protect their innovators’ freedom to operate. The chapter concludes with a few promising venues by which communities can transform weaknesses into strength. These examples aim to highlight the many ways to go forward even under the current conditions of a broken and dysfunctional global IPR system.

How do changes in human resource programs lead to innovation: an organizational entrainment perspective on the temporal mechanisms in HRM

PurposeThe current study aims to investigate the temporal mechanisms in HRM systems by focusing on how HRM systems evolve over time and how such changes affect organizational innovation.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on organizational entrainment theory to examine how pace of change in employee involvement programs (EIPs) influences innovation via data from an eight-year longitudinal survey collected by Statistics Canada. The final sample includes 15,679 workplace–year observations.FindingsThis research shows that the effects of HRM programs on performance are more than just the mean effect – the pace of change by which changes are implemented in HRM programs matters in the long run. The optimal level of change pace occurs when the EIPs are changing at a pace that entrains (or synchronizes) with organizational rhythm of strategic changes. Results suggest that change pace in EIPs has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with both pace and quality of innovation. The curvilinear effect is more pronounced for organizations with relatively lower mean level of EIPs.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, this study captures only key measures of the EIPs and may not be generalizable to other dimensions of the HR systems. Second, the results of this paper should be interpreted at the HR program level or bundles of HR practices – the findings may not be generalizable to lower levels of analysis. Third, as a result of annual measurement, this study cannot capture short-lived minor dynamic HR misfits where workplaces quickly adjust to regain alignment. Fourth, to attain meaningful and consistent measures of strategic HR change, this study only includes surviving workplaces with at least five years of observations.Practical implicationsThis paper provides insights to managers and business leaders on how to implement strategic changes in HRM systems effectively to attain sustained innovation outcomes in the long run. To achieve an optimal level of innovation, organizations need to consider not only what and how many EIPs should be used but also how to strategically change EIPs to meet dynamic internal and external changes.Originality/valueThe current research introduces organizational entrainment theory to explain and empirically test the conflicting predictions of the universalist and contingency perspectives on the effects of strategic changes in HRM.

Knowledge Management and Systematic Innovation Capability

This qualitative research examined the relationship between knowledge management (KM) and systematic innovation capability in 16 Australian manufacturing and service organizations that exhibited both successful innovation and robust KM practices. A review of the literature indicated a number of areas where KM enhances and supports innovation capability. Using a multiple cross-case analysis methodology and applying a framework of systematic innovation capability, in-depth interviews were conducted with managers of the case study organizations. The analysis of the data revealed the main contributions of KM to systematic and sustained forms of innovation. Areas in which KM could contribute more to sustained innovation capability are also discussed.

A New Outcome based Education System in Engineering Colleges

This paper propses a new Outcome Based Education and its benefits in the engineering colleges. The engineering education system has evolved in the past 10 years. The sustained innovation of ideas and products has produced a huge gap between the industry-academic interactions. The industries are well in advance of the technology taught in the curriculum. This mismatch of the academics and industries has created a change in the skills set requirement of the companies which are recruiting the young engineers in their field of interest. The main goal of the OBE is to reduce the distance between the industry-academic and provide versatile training that will be suitable and in demand for the current trend in the industries. This method will project on the importance of the OBE practiced in the engineering colleges so as to satisfy the skill set demand of the industries. This method is conducted with the students from the various departments of an engineering college. The result depicts that the 70% of the students are interested in the OBE and seems to be actively involved in the OBE practices.

Structural advantages of socially agreed leadership and governance frameworks

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper concentrates on how participation between the senior management hierarchy of a UK university and a community of social networks achieved an adaptive organizational transformation, led by a hunger for sustained innovation. The leadership and governance framework behind this strategic execution was deliberately structured to accommodate future change, and was arrived at with the social acceptance of stakeholders at all levels through the formation of a Change Academy and an “Enterprise Enablers” leadership programme. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

How to Motivate Employees for Sustained Innovation Behavior in Job Stressors? A Cross-Level Analysis of Organizational Innovation Climate

The starting point of organizational innovation is employees’ creative thinking and innovation behaviors at work. In addition to personality and innovation willingness, innovation behavior depends on the level of support available in an organizational environment. The data used in this study were collected from 74 R&D teams (418 employee participants) in technology companies in Taiwan, and a multi-level analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships among job stressors, creative self-efficacy, and employees’ sustained innovation behavior, as well as the role of the organizational innovation climate between creative self-efficacy and employees’ innovation behavior. The research findings revealed significant positive relationships between challenge stressors and employees’ sustained innovation behavior, as well as significant negative relationships between hindrance stressors and employees’ sustained innovation behavior, mediation effects of creative self-efficacy on job stressors and employees’ sustained innovation behavior, and moderation effects of the organizational innovation climate on employees’ creative self-efficacy and sustained innovation behavior. An enterprise could place some working-related stress on employees and create a rich internal innovative climate to induce innovation behavior in its members.

Gary Pisano: Keeping the larger firm vibrant and innovative

Purpose Interview with Gary Pisano about his latest book, Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation. Design/methodology/approach Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie Professor of Business Administration and senior associate dean for faculty development at Harvard Business School and one of the world’s leading experts in the fields of innovation, strategy, manufacturing and competitiveness. Findings The first characteristic of an effective innovation strategy is that it lays out clearly the priorities among different types of innovation opportunities. Practical implications If your base technologies are maturing, but customer needs are still not being met, then this suggests potential opportunities for radical innovation strategies. Originality/value Pisano is teaching corporate giants how to effectively innovate. His new book offers new ways of thinking about innovation and new models for discovering opportunities.

Investigating Sustained Participation in Open Design Community in China: The Antecedents of User Loyalty

Understanding what drives user loyalty is a central theme in the research fields of open design community (ODC) and sustained innovation. Drawing on theories of network externalities and expectation disconfirmation, this paper develops a theoretical model reflecting the effect of determinants on user loyalty. The model is tested utilizing survey data amassed from 389 users of a typical ODC, Xiaomi Corporation’s forum, in China. The major findings of our work as follows: First, satisfaction plays the most important role in explaining the user loyalty to ODCs, and disconfirmation of fan care is the most critical factor influencing user satisfaction. Second, the perceived network size exerts negative impact on user loyalty to an ODC. Third, impacts of different factors on user loyalty vary due to gender difference. This research advanced the knowledge in Open Design by demonstrating the antecedents of participant’s loyalty towards ODC, and highlighting the motivations of individual’s open design participation behavior.