The effects of national culture and ethno‐linguistic diversity on innovativeness

Technological diversification, technological coupling and invention performance

Purpose

To investigate the relationship between technological diversification and firm performance as a function of varying levels of technological coupling and internal technological change.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal study of US-based bio-pharmaceutical companies.

Findings

Technological diversification improves invention performance. However, high levels of technological coupling reduce this effect.

Practical implications

Firms with highly diversified technological portfolios should strive to keep their technologies at low levels of technological coupling.

Originality/value

This is the first study to show that technological coupling reduces the positive effect of technological diversification on firms' invention performance.

Redeveloping the National Innovative Capacity Framework: European Union Perspective

This paper aims to redevelop the national innovative capacity framework and specify the influence of its’ elements on shaping the innovation performance of the EU nations. The objects of the empirical research are the EU member states for the period of 2000–2018. The collected data is employed in a multivariate Granger causality analysis that illustrates the causal links between the analyzed indicators and considers their dynamics. The results demonstrate that countries seeking to increase the levels of innovative outputs should mostly focus on scientific excellence and international economic activities. A redevelopment of the framework also helped discover that gender equality and corruption have causal links with all forms of the investigated innovation indicators—technological, non-technological, and commercial ones. The outcomes of this study highlight the most critical areas where EU member states could focus to improve their national innovation performance and may assist policymakers in the designing process of future innovation policies.

ANTECEDENTS OF SUCCESS IN A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM

This study explores and examines the relationship between the success of Research and Development (R&D) consortia and the factors that determine this success. Most studies of R&D consortium success are based on a set of observable variables as antecedents of this success. In our study, we recognise the complexity of the problem and use latent variables as a set of weighted observable variables, rather than classical variables. Empirical insights are provided by applying a second-generation technique, namely the PLS-SEM algorithm, to analyse the data gathered from R&D consortia in Spain. The results demonstrate the existence of constructs (partner attributes, alliance attributes, environment attributes and leadership) that encompass the determinant factors for success, and also show that the attributes of the partners and the characteristics of the project alliances exert a positive influence on the success of the joint R&D project.

Absorptive capacity, co-creation, and innovation performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of absorptive capacity (ACAP) and co-creation on innovation performance (INN).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use survey data from Swedish and Norwegian companies (n=1,102) and establish a cross-national equivalence between Sweden and Norway.

Findings

The subsequent structural model revealed interesting differences. For Sweden, co-creation fully mediates the effect of ACAP on INN, whereas for Norway, ACAP has a direct effect on INN with no mediation. Subsequent regressions including control variables showed that the structural model is reasonably robust. The authors conclude that, despite the many common national features conducive to innovation between these two countries, sufficient differences remain to create substantial variation in the innovation processes.

Originality/value

The study presents a second-order model of ACAP that permits a unique test of cross-country differences.

The more you value, the less you practice: a study on culture and managerial discretion

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine cross-cultural differences in managerial discretion and the extent to which variations and interaction of cultural practices and values affect the degree of freedom in decision making that is accorded to executives. This paper offers a holistic approach to investigating culture in addition to acknowledging its paradoxical nature.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a panel of prominent management consultants to rate discretion across 18 countries, the authors further develop the national-level construct of managerial discretion by empirically investigating the influence of cultural practices and values on CEOs’ discretion.

Findings

The study reveals that cultural values moderate the relationship between cultural practices and managerial discretion for three cultural dimensions: individualism, uncertainty tolerance and power distance (PD). By adopting the logic of marginal utility, the authors also show that the more a society values individualism, uncertainty tolerance and PD, the weaker the effect of their practices on managerial discretion.

Originality/value

Few research has attempted to assess both cultural values and practices in relation to managerial discretion. By showing the mechanism in which culture affects the level of managerial discretion, the authors offer new theoretical insights and practical implications, overall contributing to the field of cross-cultural and strategic management. Finally, this will offer CEO’s a new perspective of leveraging culture as a tool, enhancing their decision-making capabilities in the aim of improving organizational performance.

Exploring cultural heterogeneity

Research on the degree of managerial discretion, or latitude of action, accorded to executives at the national level has primarily focused on the effect of intercultural variation in values on managerial discretion by assuming spatial homogeneity within countries. However, evidence in cross-cultural research indicates that cultural heterogeneity within countries can be as salient as or sometimes even more than inter-country variation. Thus, this study examines the extent to which intra-cultural variation affects the degree of discretion accorded to executives. The study tests the proposed relationships using fixed-effect regression analysis by measuring managerial discretion through survey responses of senior management consultants. It operationalizes intra-cultural variation by the standard deviation in societal members’ behaviour in terms of individualism, uncertainty tolerance and power distance. Results show that a strong relationship exists between intra-cultural variation and managerial discretion and that the direction of the relationship is negative. Executives operating in countries with high heterogeneity are subject to increased constraints from the national environment and, as such, are not able to take idiosyncratic or bold actions. Managerial discretion not only is a function of the central tendency of a society but depends on the homogeneity/heterogeneity in views innate therein. Using institutional, stakeholder and upper echelons theories, the study shows that greater intra-cultural variation negatively affects the degree of executive discretion. Thus, it provides a more nuanced understanding of such relationship and introduces a new national conceptualization that plays an important role in the strategic decision-making of business executives.

Corporate entrepreneurship strategy: an analysis of top management teams in SMEs

Purpose

In order to learn more about the antecedents of strategy at the top management team’s (TMT) level, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of TMT cultural intelligence on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. Then, the authors examine how TMT’s ambiguity tolerance mediates this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors tested the hypothesis by collecting survey data from 41 TMTs of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the south-east of Iran.

Findings

The survey results confirm that a high level of cultural intelligence in TMTs is conducive to corporate entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the result shows that higher levels of cultural intelligence in TMTs relate to a higher level of ambiguity tolerance, which, in turn, enhances the possibility of pursuing corporate entrepreneurship strategy by SMEs.

Research limitations/implications

The data for this study were obtained from 41 TMTs in the south-east of Iran, which increases the probability that the results may not be directly transferable to certain companies in Western countries. Future research might attempt to test the ideas developed in this paper across different settings and samples.

Originality/value

Several theoretical and empirical studies have explored possible antecedents of corporate entrepreneurship. But a few papers investigated the role of TMT dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy. By addressing the prominent role of TMT psychological dispositions on corporate entrepreneurship strategy, this paper attempts to fill this gap.