Erlend Nybakk

Inter-Organizational Innovation Promoters In Small, Knowledge-Intensive Firms

This paper examines the relationship between external relations and innovation in small, knowledge-intensive Norwegian firms. Our findings indicate that external relations are beneficial for innovation. The analysis shows that it is necessary to treat innovation as more than a concept. Our independent variables related differently to product innovation, process innovation, and market innovation.We found that market participation in product development has a positive impact on product, process and market innovation. We also found that top management interaction with other firms had a positive effect on market innovation and that top management interaction with external R&D had a positive effect on product innovation. This finding probably indicates that access to R&D resources is vital for product development in the context of knowledge-intensive products. The results also show that participation in conferences and courses positively influences process and market innovation and that systematic environmental scanning positively influences product innovation.

INNOVATION STRATEGY, WORKING CLIMATE, AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN TRADITIONAL MANUFACTURING FIRMS: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

In this study, we address the effect of innovation strategy and an innovative working climate on financial performance in the Norwegian wood industry. Innovation strategy embodies four dimensions: the degrees to which innovation in the form of products, processes, and business systems are embedded in the management values and priorities as well as the degree of expenditure in R&D. An innovative working climate is exemplified by team cohesion, supervisory encouragement, resources, autonomy, challenge, and openness to innovation. Previous studies have indicated a lack of research in traditional manufacturing firms on both innovation strategy and a supportive working climate. Our survey was answered by 241 CEOs. The connectional model was tested with structural equation modelling, and all hypotheses received support. This result implied that innovation strategy and an innovative working climate enhanced financial performance in traditional manufacturing firms.

Learning orientation, innovativeness and financial performance in traditional manufacturing firms: a higher- order structural equation model

This study examines the relationships among learning orientation, firm innovativeness and financial performance in the context of the Norwegian wood industry. A questionnaire-based survey was sent to the CEOs of firms in the wood industry in Norway (241 usable replies, response rate of 49 percent). Learning orientation and firm innovativeness were conceptualised and analysed as latent second-order constructs by using structural equation modelling. The findings show that learning orientation has a positive effect on firm innovativeness in the traditional manufacturing industry. In addition, learning orientation was found to positively affect financial performance via the full mediating effect of firm innovativeness. Furthermore, firm innovativeness was also found to have an independent positive effect on financial performance. No direct effect of learning orientation on financial performance was found. According to the data, firm age also does not appear to affect the relationship between learning orientation and firm innovativeness.

Inter-organizational networks and innovation in small, knowledge-intensive firms: A literature review

A growing body of research acknowledges that inter-organizational networks greatly influence a firms innovation performance. This study extends our understanding of this relationship by considering the effect of inter-organizational networks on innovation in small, knowledge-intensive companies. Based on a literature review, we formulate four propositions regarding the moderating effects of firm size and knowledge intensity on the relationship between inter-organizational networks and innovation, as well as the influence of these factors on the development of the inter-organizational networks themselves.

A multinational investigation of softwood sawmilling innovativeness

Abstract Softwood sawmilling is important to the economy of many nations and huge volumes of softwood lumber are produced annually. Accordingly, the economic success of softwood sawmills, as they compete with substitutes such as steel and concrete, is of interest to various industry stakeholders, especially managers, and researchers. Given the strong connection between innovativeness and firm performance in the literature, this study investigates innovativeness in sawmills in Australia, Canada, Chile, Norway, and the USA. Mail surveys were used in each of the countries to collect data regarding product, process, and business systems innovativeness and firm performance. Findings suggest that sawmills focus equally on product and process innovativeness, firm size positively impacts innovativeness, and that overall, process innovativeness is what drives firm performance in this sector. Findings suggest that managers should focus on being innovative since this positively impacts firm performance.

Innovation Processes in Forest-related Recreation Services: The Role of Public and Private Resources in Different Institutional Backgrounds

This article examines innovation processes in forest recreational services on the basis of case studies in five European countries with differing institutional backgrounds of forest ownership and access rights. The analysis reveals that forest-related recreation services are developed under varying institutional conditions and on public as well as private land. Ideas for innovations in recreational services may come from within but often outside the forestry sector. Financing is provided from public and private sources. Both public and private spheres have important roles in providing natural, human and financial resources and usually a network of public and private actors are involved in innovation processes. Of particular importance are cross-sectoral interactions between forestry and tourism. Greater institutional support is needed for the development of forest-related recreation services because the field is at an early stage of development. It is concluded that support should focus on providing ideas and financial resources for product development and on facilitating cross-sectoral interaction between forestry and tourism actors. A particular need is seen for development of models for durable interaction between land owners and tourism operators on a regional scale.

Being Good When Not Doing Well Examining the Effect of the Economic Downturn on Small Manufacturing Firms’ Ongoing Sustainability-Oriented Initiatives

How firms behave under conditions of decline and resource constraints has not been considered in the corporate sustainability literature. This leaves unanswered the question how much we should rely on firms’ sustainability-oriented voluntary initiatives at a time when the global economy continues to be weak and firms face persistent threats of decline. In addressing this question, we first argue that the effect of a decline would be different for peripheral and core initiatives. Using data gathered from 478 small firms representing multiple manufacturing sectors in the United States through a survey, we empirically demonstrate that a decline in a firm’s financial performance is associated with a higher decline of peripheral initiatives than of core initiatives. We further found that a decline in peripheral initiatives was even greater when a firm operated in a relatively dynamic context. Contextual dynamism, however, did not affect decline in core initiatives.

The effect of entrepreneurial and learning orientations on financial performance in a transition economy: evidence from forest contracting firms in southern Poland

ABSTRACT This study examines the role of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and learning orientation (LO) in the financial success of forest contracting firms. Both EO and LO have previously been understood to positively affect a firms financial performance, but extant literature has not considered those links in a transition economy. Partially addressing this gap, we execute this study in a Polish context. Using data obtained through a mail survey of 101 owners of forest contracting firms (34% response rate), we found that both EO and LO have a positive and significant effect on financial performance.