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Major Innovation (major + innovation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	50%

Selected Abstracts

Major Innovation as a Dynamic Capability: A Systems Approach,

THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008
Gina Colarelli O'Connor
Major innovation (MI), composed of both radical and really new innovation, is an important mechanism for enabling the growth and renewal of an enterprise. Yet it is poorly managed in most established firms, and success stories are rare. This conceptual article draws on systems theory, recent advances in dynamic capabilities theory, and the management of innovation literature to offer a framework for building an MI dynamic capability. The framework is composed of seven elements that together form a management system rather than a process-based approach to nurturing radical innovation. These system elements are (1) an identifiable organization structure; (2) interface mechanisms with the mainstream organization, some of which are tightly coupled and others of which are loose; (3) exploratory processes; (4) requisite skills and talent development, given that entrepreneurial talent is not present in most organizations; (5) governance and decision-making mechanisms at the project, MI portfolio, and MI system levels; (6) appropriate performance metrics; and (7) an appropriate culture and leadership context. It is argued that dynamic capabilities for phenomena as complex as MI must be considered in a systems fashion rather than as operating routines and repeatable processes as the literature currently suggests. A set of propositions is offered regarding how each element should play out in this parallel management system. Finally, each element's role in the major innovation system is justified in terms of four criteria required by systems theory: (1) The system is identifiable, and its elements are interdependent; (2) the effect of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts; (3) homeostasis is achieved through interaction and networking with the larger organization; and (4) there is a clear purpose in the larger system in which the MI management system is embedded. Examples are given to demonstrate these criteria. Systems theory offers a new way of thinking about dynamic capability development and management. [source]

MICRO- AND MACROEVOLUTIONARY DECOUPLING OF CICHLID JAWS: A TEST OF LIEM'S KEY INNOVATION HYPOTHESIS

EVOLUTION, Issue 10 2006
C. D. Hulsey
Abstract The extent to which elements of functional systems can change independently (modularity) likely influences the diversification of lineages. Major innovations in organismal design, like the pharyngeal jaw in cichlid fishes, may be key to a group's success when they relax constraints on diversification by increasing phenotypic modularity. In cichlid fishes, pharyngeal jaw modifications that enhanced the ability to breakdown prey may have freed their oral jaws from serving their ancestral dual role as a site of both prey capture and prey processing. This functional decoupling that allowed the oral jaws to become devoted solely to prey capture has been hypothesized to have permitted the two sets of cichlid jaws to evolve independently. We tested the hypothesis that oral and pharyngeal jaw mechanics are evolutionarily decoupled both within and among Neotropical Heroine cichlids. In the trophically polymorphic species Herichthys minckleyi, molariforms that exhibit enlarged molarlike pharyngeal jaw teeth were found to have approximately 400% greater lower jaw mass compared to H. minckleyi with the alternative papilliform pharyngeal morphology. However, oral jaw gape, lower jaw velocity ratios, anterior jaw linkage mechanics, and jaw protrusion did not differ between the morphotypes. In 40 other Heroine species, there was a weak correlation between oral jaw mechanics and pharyngeal jaw mass when phylogenetic history was ignored. Yet, after expansion of the cytochrome b phylogeny for Heroines, change in oral jaw mechanics was found to be independent of evolutionary change in pharyngeal jaw mass based on independent contrasts. Evolutionary decoupling of oral and pharyngeal jaw mechanics has likely played a critical role in the unparalleled trophic diversification of cichlid fishes. [source]

Measuring Progress in Transition and Towards EU Accession: A Comparison of Manufacturing Firms in Poland, Romania and Spain

JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 5 2000
Wendy Carlin
This article provides new evidence on progress in transition and the ,readiness' for accession of enterprises in two EU applicant countries. A major innovation is to benchmark them against Spain. Approximately 200 manufacturing firms were surveyed in each of Poland, Romania and Spain. Newly-established private firms in both Poland and Romania are found to be growing the fastest, but on measures of integration and investment, it is new and privatized Polish firms that most resemble Spanish ones. Polish state-owned firms, and most Romanian enterprises, typically are less integrated. Polish firms tend to lag behind Spanish ones in complying with EU directives, but are ahead of Romanian ones, although awareness of and compliance with directives does not vary with ownership type. Progress in transition at the country level seems to be consistent with improvements in compliance with much of the acquis communautaire. [source]

Do Benefit Hikes Damage Job Finding?

LABOUR, Issue 1 2007
Evidence from Swedish Unemployment Insurance Reforms
A major innovation in the first reform was the introduction of a two-tiered benefit structure for some unemployed individuals. This system involved supplementary compensation during the first 20 weeks of unemployment. The 2002 reform retained the two-tiered benefit structure but involved also substantial benefit hikes for spells exceeding 20 weeks. This paper examines how these reforms affected transitions from unemployment to employment. We take advantage of the fact that the reforms had quasi-experimental features where the ,treatments' differed considerably among unemployed individuals. We find that the reforms had strikingly different effects on job finding among men and women. The two reforms in conjunction are estimated to have increased the expected duration of unemployment among men but to have decreased the duration of unemployment among women. The overall effect on the duration of unemployment is not statistically different from zero. However, the reforms reduced job finding among men who remained unemployed for more than 20 weeks. [source]

The policy and management of information technology in Jordanian schools

BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2001
Mohammad Tawalbeh
During the past two decades the introduction of personal computers has been a major innovation in the Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan. This new technology continues to offer an exciting challenge to educationalists. This paper reviews the developments of Information Technology (IT) in Jordanian public schools in the period 1984,1998. My contention is that the highly centralised nature of the Jordanian educational system and the comprehensive policy of the Directorate of Educational Computing (DEC) have made the introduction of computers in schools less difficult. [source]