Formal new product development (NPD) processes have become an important tool in NPD management. However, our understanding of what makes formal NPD process implementation successful in terms of acceptance and performance is still limited. This paper contributes to an improved understanding of factors affecting the acceptance and use of formal NPD processes. Our results show that acceptance of formal NPD processes is determined by several factors, such as ease of use, transparency of discourse, continuous improvement, involvement of NPD actors, and the ability to bridge differences in thinking. Furthermore, that acceptance of formal NPD processes affects NPD performance positively. These results draw on data from a survey posted to employees working for nine large manufacturers of commercial vehicles worldwide. The results should encourage managers to consider and enhance the factors affecting acceptance. This could be done through using new media for publication to increase transparency and perceived ease of use of the NPD process. Further acceptance of the formal NPD process is increased if it mirrors an operative reality and if organisational structures for improvement of the process are implemented and inclusive to employees involved in NPD. © 2017 World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between HRM practices and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in large established firms. More specifically, the purpose is to add to the understanding of the influence of HRM practices on EO.

Design/methodology/approach

An e-mail survey was distributed to a sample of Swedish and German manufacturing firms in high-tech and medium high-tech manufacturing industries, and firms in knowledge-intensive services sectors, with more than 250 employees. In total, 810 surveys were distributed, with a response rate of 12.7 per cent. Findings - The results show that an emphasis on entrepreneurial aspects leads to an increased EO only in the case of training and development. A conclusion therefore is that it seems difficult to recruit personnel or to use appraisal and rewards as to create EO on a firm level.

Practical implications

The study indicates that firms aiming to increase their EO should make sure to emphasize entrepreneurial aspects during staff training and development activities. Originality/value - This empirical study paves the way towards a better understanding of the link between HRM practices and EO. The results should be of interest for both HR professionals and researchers interested in understanding this important relationship.

Construction material suppliers have access to various types of information, such as construction data, price, production planning and logistics data. This information could be of great use for the different roles involved in a construction project if the right information is presented to the right role and through a user inter-face designed for best under standing by each role. This situation is not unique for the construction industry, but the specific context with temporary organizations (construction projects) that have to communicate with permanent organizations (construction material suppliers) combined with the fact that, at least, six roles (categories) of employees are involved in a construction project places challenges on the industry to achieve effectiveness. In this paper a process to develop a information interface between construction projects and construction material producers will be presented. Using an interventionist research approach with interaction designers involved, the process aim to guide the development of an application for exchange of information between the actors in the construction projects.

From an innovation perspective, collaboration between the different actors in a national innovation system (NIS) is imperative. Our concern is whether the Triple Helix idea of collaboration between universities, industry and government as conditional for innovation capacities is possible to estimate on the basis of data. The present paper therefore uses the Global Innovation Index 2013 and the Global Competitiveness Index 2013 for that purpose. The included variables relate to the characteristics of universities, industries, government and innovation. Using these data for 128 countries, this paper suggests a model that demonstrates, by the use of linear regressions, that there are significant statistical effects of university, industry and governmental variables on University-Industry-Government collaboration (UIG). Likewise, results indicate effects of the UIG collaboration on the capacity of innovation. Our results thus confirm most, but no all, implications of the Triple Helix hypothesis in national innovation systems. Copyright: The Authors, 2015. All Rights Reserved.

With the development of globalization, companies will need worldwide resources for R&D. Multinational corporations (MNCs) will rely on their subunits located in different countries for R&D. As a result, knowledge transfer between headquarters and subunits or among subunits will be crucial for MNCs to operate their R&D activities. This study explores the relationship between knowledge transfer and R&D operations, using a qualitative research approach including four multinational companies. We conducted a cross-case analysis connecting four R&D configurations and two knowledge transfer mechanisms: expatriate management policy and communication frequency. Results show that both transfer mechanisms are very important for MNCs for the management of knowledge transfer in global R&D operations. However, each of these mechanisms will need different a focus depending on R&D strategy and configuration. The article summarizes recommendations for managers as drawn from these insights. © 2015 World Scientific Publishing Company.

During 2013, an evaluation of all the research conducted at Halmstad University was carried out. The purpose was to assess the quality of the research, coproduction, and collaboration in research, as well as the impact of the research. The evaluation was dubbed the Assessment of Research and Coproduction 2013, or ARC13. (Extract from Executive Summary)

In this study we focus the enhancement of experience of the participants in development projects with the specific purpose to identify mechanisms to address the participant’s technical level. We used an interventionist approach exploring two mechanisms (the knowledge truck and ambassadors) for knowledge transfer. A fish-producing regional network in the rural region of Cauca, Colombia, is used as case. The study contributes to technology transfer literature by expanding our knowledge about barriers created by low technical knowledge among technology receivers. Further the study contributes to the bottom-up approach to technology transfer.

The purposes of this special issue were to connect Human Resource Management (HRM) research and innovation research and to contribute towards a better understanding of how HRM can be deployed to support organisations in their innovation efforts. In this commentary, we review the results from the five articles in this special issue in general and offer suggestions for future research from these five contributions. We do this by pinpointing a number of themes, contingencies, measurement challenges and ideas on working with other research areas that might be useful in future research on the relationship between HRM and innovation.

This paper introduces the papers included in the thematic issue on Human Resource Management (HRM) and firm innovativeness in a European context. Furthermore it presents the results of a literature review on human resource management and firm innovativeness. The literature shows that the positive relationship between HRM and firm innovativeness has been confirmed. However, the explanation for how this relationship works is not equivocal/unified. Empirical studies have investigated the role of strategic HRM, specific HRM systems and HRM practices. For strategic HRM, the empirical support is still limited, while for HRM systems considerable work confirms the positive influence of commitment-based HRM. For HRM practices, in particular training, working in teams, and internal labour flexibility, including job rotation, the literature provides empirical evidence and indications that they are positively related to firm innovativeness. Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Research has indicated that small and medium sized firms (SMEs) play an important role in the growth of the economy. However, in order to be able to compete at an international level, most SMEs are bound to work in alliances in order to gather enough knowledge and resources for product and technology development or to be able to penetrate a larger market. Alliances can be formed with different types of actors (i.e., suppliers, customers, agents, universities, consultancies); in the alliance, information and knowledge are gathered and created. Information is defined as "knowledge that can be transmitted without loss of integrity," which includes facts, axiomatic propositions, and symbols. This knowledge can be categorized as domain-specific, procedural, or general. In the present study, a case approach is used to investigate how different types of information and knowledge generated through distributed product development are integrated into the firm, what methods are used, and some conclusions on what methods are more successful for each type of information or knowledge. Results indicate a very high representation of formal information sharing (document exchange) even if there is a high degree of agreement among the respondents that personal meetings and continuous information sharing would be better if they had a system for this. Therefore, the conclusions should lead to systems that address the above problems.