Contexts and actors of innovation

Journal title ECONOMIA E SOCIETÀ REGIONALE
Author/s Simone Guercini
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2016/3 Language Italian
Pages 17 P. 84-100 File size 322 KB
DOI 10.3280/ES2016-003006
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This conceptual article examines the relations between the context and the actors of innovation from the perspective of interaction and learning processes. Actor characteristics are selected based on the partners with whom they interact, as such features help to define the scope of the learning processes that support the capacity for innovation. In particular, we look at the actor's position in relation to both location and ethnic groups. Such aspects have been selected because they appear to be amongst those having the greatest impact on the businesses of the local systems in the recent Italian experience. The article proposes a typology of innovation context based on a classification of actors and interactions. The change in the relevant interactions generates a change in context, which consequently calls for subsequent adaptation.

Keywords: Actors, Context, Interaction, Innovation

  1. Allen. T.J. (1977). Managing the Flow of Technology. Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  2. Amabile T.M. (1988). A Model of Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10: 123-167.
  3. Becattini G. (1990). The Marshallian Industrial District as a Socio-economic Notion. In: Pyke F., Becattini G. and Sengenberger W., eds. Industrial Districts and Inter-Firm Co-Operation in Italy. Geneva: ILO Publications.
  4. Berry J.W., Kim U., Minde T. and Mok D. (1987). Comparative Studies of Acculturative Stress. International Migration Review, 21(3): 491-511.
  5. Bonacich E. (1973). A Theory of Middleman Minorities. American Sociological Review, 38(5): 583-594.
  6. Bruderl J. and Schussler R. (1990). Organizational Mortality: The Liabilities of Newness and Adolescence. Administrative Science Quarterly. 35(3): 530-547.
  7. Burt R.S. (1990). Structural Holes. The Social Structure of Competition. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press.
  8. Chesbrough H.W. (2003). Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology. Harvard: Harvard Business Press.
  9. Clitheroe H.C., Stokols D. and Zmuidzinas M. (1998). Conceptualizing the Context of Environment and Behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18: 103-112.
  10. Dei Ottati G. (1994). Trust, Interlinking Transactions and Credit in the Industrial District. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 18: 529-546.
  11. Emerson R.M. (1962). Power-Dependence Relations. American Sociological Review, 27(1): 31-41.
  12. Ford D., Gadde L.E., Håkansson H., Snehota I. and Waluszewski A. (2008). Analysing Business Interaction. Paper presented at the 24th IMP Conference. Uppsala, 2012 November30,-- <www.impgroup.org>. Gadde L.E. and Snehota I. (2001). Rethinking the Role of Middleman. Paper presented at the 17th IMP Conference. Oslo, September 9-11, <www.impgroup.org>.
  13. Gereffi G., Humphrey J. Surgeon T. (2005). The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy, 12(1): 78-104, DOI: 10.1080/09692290500049805
  14. Grandinetti R. (2011). Local/Global Cognitive Interfaces within Industrial Districts: an Italian Case Study. The Learning Organization, 18(4): 301-31, DOI: 10.1108/09696471111132513
  15. Grandinetti R. e De Marchi V. (2012). Dove stanno andando i distretti industriali? Un tentativo di risposta a partire da un’indagine in Veneto. Studi Organizzativi, 2: 142-175, DOI: 10.3280/SO2012-002006
  16. Guercini S. and Runfola A. (2015). Actors’ Roles in Interaction and Innovation in Local Systems: a Conceptual Taxonomy. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 30(3/4): 269-278, DOI: 10.1108/JBIM-12-2012-0256
  17. Guercini S. and Ranfagni S. (2016). Conviviality Behavior in Entrepreneurial Communities and Business Networks. Journal of Business Research, 69(2): 770-776,
  18. Guercini S., Dei Ottati G., Baldassar L. and Johanson G. eds. (icp). Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurship. Heidelberg: Springer.
  19. Håkansson H., Havila V. and Pedersen A.C. (1999). Learning in Networks. Industrial Marketing Management, 28(5): 443-452.
  20. Håkansson H. and Olsen P.I. (2012). Innovation Management in Networked Economies. Journal of Business Market Management, 5(2): 79-105, --<www.jbm-online.net/index.php/jbm/information/readers>.
  21. Håkansson H. and Snehota I. (1995). Developing Relationships in Business Networks. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
  22. Hofstede G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. London: Sage.
  23. Johanson J. and Vahlne J.-E. (2009). The Uppsala Internationalization Process Model Revisited: From Liability of Foreignness to Liability of Outsidership. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(4): 1411-1431,
  24. Linton R. (1936). The Study of Man. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
  25. Lorenzoni G. and Baden-Fuller C. (1995). Creating a Strategic Center to Manage a Web of Partners. California Management Review, 37(3): 146-163.
  26. Marshall A. (1920). Industry and Trade. A Study of Industrial Technique and Business Organization; and of their Influences on the Condition of Various Classes and Nations. London: Macmillan, 3rd edition.
  27. Paoli M. (2009). La dinamica della conoscenza nei sistemi sociali. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  28. Portes A. and Jensen L. (1987). What’s an Ethnic Enclave? The Case for Conceptual Clarity. American Sociological Review, 52(6): 768-771.
  29. Redfield R., Linton R. and Herskovits M.J. (1936). Memorandum on the Study of Acculturation. American Anthropologist, 38: 149-152. Riddle L.and Brinkerhoff J. (2011). Diaspora Entreprene urs as Institutional Change Agents: The Case of Thamel. com. International Business Review, 20(6): 670-680,
  30. Rotter J.B. (1955). The Role of Psychological Situation in Determining the Direction of Human Behavior. In: Jones M.R. ed. Nebraska Symposium on motivation. Lincoln (NE): University of Nebraska Press.
  31. Simon H.A. (1990). Invariants of Human Behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 41: 1-19.
  32. Stokols D. (1987). Conceptual Strategies of Environmental Psychology. In: Stokols D. and Altman I. eds. Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York (NY): John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1
  33. Teece D.J. (1986). Profiting from Technological Innovation: Implications for Integration, Collaboration, Licensing and Public Policy. Research Policy, 15: 285-305.
  34. Waldinger R. (1986). Immigrant Enterprise. Theory and Society, 15(1): 249-285.
  35. Zaheer S., Lamin A. and Subramani M. (2009). Cluster Capabilities or Ethnic Ties&Quest; Location Choice by Foreign and Domestic Entrants in the Services Offshoring Industry in India. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(6): 944-968,

Simone Guercini, Contesti e attori dell’innovazione in "ECONOMIA E SOCIETÀ REGIONALE " 3/2016, pp 84-100, DOI: 10.3280/ES2016-003006