Marius T.H. Meeus

Regional Innovation Networks

The aim of this book is to present a much-needed conceptualization of ‘the learning region’. The editors scrutinize key concepts and issues surrounding this phenomenon, which are then discussed in the context of recent literature. This unique conceptualization of the learning region presents a state of the art exploration of theories. Leading scholars from across Europe, the USA and South Africa draw upon various disciplines to explain how regional actors perform regional learning.

Social performance cues induce behavioral flexibility in humans

Behavioral flexibility allows individuals to react to environmental changes, but changing established behavior carries costs, with unknown benefits. Individuals may thus modify their behavioral flexibility according to the prevailing circumstances. Social information provided by the performance level of others provides one possible cue to assess the potential benefits of changing behavior, since out-performance in similar circumstances indicates that novel behaviors (innovations) are potentially useful. We demonstrate that social performance cues, in the form of previous players’ scores in a problem-solving computer game, influence behavioral flexibility. Participants viewed only performance indicators, not the innovative behavior of others. While performance cues (high, low, or no scores) had little effect on innovation discovery rates, participants that viewed high scores increased their utilization of innovations, allowing them to exploit the virtual environment more effectively than players viewing low or no scores. Perceived conspecific performance can thus shape human decisions to adopt novel traits, even when the traits employed cannot be copied. This simple mechanism, social performance feedback, could be a driver of both the facultative adoption of innovations and cumulative cultural evolution, processes critical to human success.

Emotion regulation and conflict transformation in multi-team systems

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to test the moderating role of emotion regulation in the transformation of both task and process conflict into relationship conflict. Design/methodology/approach – A field study of multi-teams systems, in which (94) respondents are engaged in interpersonal and inter-team interactions, was conducted to test the effects of the interaction of emotion regulation and task and process conflict on the emergence of relationship conflict in 23 multi-team client/supplier systems. Findings – The findings show that when collective emotion regulation strategies are effective, process conflict is less likely to transform into relationship conflict. An emerging finding of this study shows that process conflict mediates the interaction between task conflict and emotion regulation on relationship conflict in multi-team systems. Research limitations/implications – This study uses a relatively small number of projects and participants: further studies with larger samples are recommended; i...

Dynamic perspective on the relation between environmental policy and eco-efficiency: the case of wastewater treatment, waste and energy efficiency in the Dutch paper and board industry

The relation between environmental policy and innovation is complex. This paper aims to gain insight into the way accumulation of policy measures, or in other words, the increase of policy pressure, affects research activities and eco-efficiency. Three environmental domains have been researched for the Dutch paper and board industry: wastewater, waste and energy. Three trends (19802003) are identified for these topics: (1) development of environmental policy; (2) number research projects started and (3) eco-efficiency. We argue that if existing solutions and knowledge are not sufficient to reach the objectives, research activities will take place before eco-efficiency is improved. Moreover, we argue that an increase in policy pressure can cause competition between policy instruments. This may result in a smoothed and delayed increase in research activities (if existing knowledge is insufficient) and eco-efficiency improvement. This delayed eco-efficiency improvement was observed for wastewater and waste. It was not observed for energy efficiency.

Innovation Strategies, Interactive Learning and Innovation Networks

Innovation and Institutions is an extensive elaboration on the make up of systems of innovation. It examines why some countries are more innovative than others, why national styles of innovation differ, and goes on to explore why some countries make radical innovations but fail to successfully market them, whilst others making incremental innovations have more commercial success.

When None of Us Perform Better than All of Us Together: The Role of Analogical Decision Rules in Groups

During social interactions, groups develop collective competencies that (ideally) should assist groups to outperform average standalone individual members (weak cognitive synergy) or the best performing member in the group (strong cognitive synergy). In two experimental studies we manipulate the type of decision rule used in group decision-making (identify the best vs. collaborative), and the way in which the decision rules are induced (direct vs. analogical) and we test the effect of these two manipulations on the emergence of strong and weak cognitive synergy. Our most important results indicate that an analogically induced decision rule (imitate-the-successful heuristic) in which groups have to identify the best member and build on his/her performance (take-the-best heuristic) is the most conducive for strong cognitive synergy. Our studies bring evidence for the role of analogy-making in groups as well as the role of fast-and-frugal heuristics for group decision-making.

Contradictory yet Coherent? Inconsistency in Performance Feedback and R&D Investment Change

In this paper, we study to what extent inconsistent feedback signals about performance affect firm adaptive behavior in terms of changes made to research-and-development (R&D) investments. We argue that inconsistency in performance feedback—based on discrepancies between two distinct performance signals—affects the degree to which such investments will be changed. Our aim is to show that accounting for inconsistent performance feedback is necessary as predictions for the direction of change in R&D investments based on the individual performance feedback signals are contradictory. Furthermore, we contribute by proposing a holistic consideration mechanism as an alternative to the selective attention mechanism previously applied to inconsistent performance feedback. Our findings show that the impact of inconsistency depends on the exact configuration of the underlying performance feedback signal discrepancies. While consistently negative performance feedback signals would amplify their impact in stimulating increased R&D investments, inconsistent performance feedback signals created more nuanced effects. Having lower performance compared to an industry-based peer group—despite doing well compared to the previous year—made firms decrease their R&D investments. For the opposite case of inconsistent performance feedback, we did not find an effect on change in R&D investments. These findings support to a degree our contention that explaining the effects of inconsistent performance feedback requires a holistic consideration theoretical mechanism instead of one involving selective attention. In sum, these findings suggest future research should take into account the differences between distinct instances of inconsistent performance feedback.

Children Without Bruised Knees: Responding to Material and Ideational (Mis)alignments:

Institutional theorists have predominantly focused on the symbolic and cognitive side of institutions. So far, the role of materiality has been largely overlooked in institutional studies. Material aspects of organizing can nevertheless critically shape actors’ responses to institutional pressures, not least because material and ideational aspects are often intermingled. In this paper, we extend Oliver’s (1991) conceptual framework of strategic responses. We show how managers assess and compare the material and ideational aspects of new institutional requirements with their existing material and ideational situation and balance both aspects in their strategic responses. We find that the degree of (mis)alignment subsequently shaped their evaluation of the consequences of (non)conformity and the breadth of responses available to them. In fact, we find that the nature of institutional requirements – material versus ideational – actually restricts the range of strategic response options.

Inconsistency in Performance Feedback and R&D Investment

This paper asks to which extent inconsistent feedback signals about performance affect with which intensity organizations engage in R&D as well as the likelihood they adjust their R&D intensity. We...