Technological trajectories as moderators of firm-level determinants of innovation
Journal
Research Policy
ISSN
0048-7333
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2002-08
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
Pavitt [Research Policy 13 (1984) 343] identified different patterns of technological change (technological trajectories) in four sectoral classes of industrial firms. This paper tests the applicability of Pavitt’s taxonomy (which derived from an economic perspective) to moderate the inconsistent results of the management literature on the determinants of technological innovation.
An empirical test in a sample of 105 Greek companies showed that firms in different trajectories of Pavitt’s taxonomy had differences in the rate of technological innovation. ‘Specialised suppliers’ and ‘science-based’ firms were found to have higher rates of innovation than ‘supplier dominated’ and ‘scale intensive’ ones. Most importantly, different variables proved to be significantly associated with innovation for each category of firms: innovation for ‘supplier dominated’ firms was related to the competitive environment, acquisition of information, technology strategy, risk attitude and internal co-ordination. For ‘scale intensive’ firms, the important determinants were related to the ability to raise funding and the education and experience of personnel. For ‘specialised suppliers’, innovation was associated with high growth rate and exporting as well as training and incentives offered to the employees to contribute towards innovation. ‘Science-based’ firms depended upon technology-related variables, education and experience of personnel, growth in profitability and panel discussions with lead customers. The application of Pavitt’s model can resolve the apparent problem of inconsistent results in the management research on the determinants of technological innovation.
An empirical test in a sample of 105 Greek companies showed that firms in different trajectories of Pavitt’s taxonomy had differences in the rate of technological innovation. ‘Specialised suppliers’ and ‘science-based’ firms were found to have higher rates of innovation than ‘supplier dominated’ and ‘scale intensive’ ones. Most importantly, different variables proved to be significantly associated with innovation for each category of firms: innovation for ‘supplier dominated’ firms was related to the competitive environment, acquisition of information, technology strategy, risk attitude and internal co-ordination. For ‘scale intensive’ firms, the important determinants were related to the ability to raise funding and the education and experience of personnel. For ‘specialised suppliers’, innovation was associated with high growth rate and exporting as well as training and incentives offered to the employees to contribute towards innovation. ‘Science-based’ firms depended upon technology-related variables, education and experience of personnel, growth in profitability and panel discussions with lead customers. The application of Pavitt’s model can resolve the apparent problem of inconsistent results in the management research on the determinants of technological innovation.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
Global Center for Entrepreneurship + Innovation
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
31
Number
6
Start page
877
End page
898
Official URL
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
255343