Elsevier

Technovation

Volume 26, Issues 5–6, May–June 2006, Pages 644-664
Technovation

Lessons from innovation empirical studies in the manufacturing sector: A systematic review of the literature from 1993–2003

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2005.06.016Get rights and content

Abstract

What is innovation and what determines its development in manufacturing firms? The literature on the topic has evolved exponentially during the last decades. However, the divergence of the research results makes it so that the innovation process is still poorly understood. Relying on a systematic review of empirical studies published between 1993 and 2003, this article propose and discuss a framework which brings together a set of variables related to the innovation process and the internal and contextual factors driving it. The ensuing results highlight several avenues which would help managers and policy makers to better foster innovation and researchers to better channel their efforts in studying the phenomenon.

Section snippets

Objective and scope of the study

This study consists of a systematic review of empirical articles published in scholarly reviews between 1993 and 2003 on the topic of technological innovations in the manufacturing sector. There were two main objectives: (1) to study how the variable ‘innovation’ was approached and measured by the authors, and (2) to identify the main explanatory variables which determine the innovative behavior and capacity of the firms. Some details are needed to better understand our research problem.

First

Methods

Before specifying the methodological details of the study, it is worth while answering first the question: why to do a systematic review? In the management field, the traditional narrative literature reviews have been widely criticized for the lack of relevance due to the use of a personal, and usually subjective and biased methodology by authors (Fink, 1998, Hart, 1998). To mitigate this gap, Transfield et al. (2003) propose to apply the specific principles of the systematic review methodology

Some general characteristics of the included studies

The distribution of the reviewed articles per publication year shows that 1996 was an outstanding date for research on innovation (Fig. 2). Beginning with a very limited number of articles per year for the period 1993–-1995, the rate of published articles on manufacturing sector innovation increased remarkably since 1996 to reach an average of over 12 articles per year for the period 1996–-2003. This publication trend might originate in the series of Community Innovation Surveys (CIS) conducted

Findings

The examination of the 108 articles included in our systematic review brought out a wide range of issues related to innovation and its explanatory factors. An integrative framework was thus needed to provide a comprehensive and coherent characterization of the state of knowledge in this field. A thorough analysis of the reviewed studies led us to propose the framework presented in Fig. 5, which brings together a set of variables related to innovation and the internal and contextual factors

Conclusion and implications

Innovation in the manufacturing sector is a very complex process which is propelled by numerous factors. This conclusion is drawn by practically all the research in the field. Our systematic review has confirmed this complexity by assessing the main internal and contextual variables which influence the innovative capacity of manufacturing firms. In addition to the significant number of explanatory variables, our results show that the relationship linking several of these variables with

Dr Nizar Becheikh has completed a Ph.D. in management at Laval University in Quebec City. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the CHSRF/CIHR Chair on Transfer of Knowledge and Innovation at Laval University. His research interests are focused around innovation in the manufacturing sector, strategic management, and virtual organizations. He published an article and a book chapter on management of technologies and virtual organizations. He also has communications in prestigious

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  • Cited by (0)

    Dr Nizar Becheikh has completed a Ph.D. in management at Laval University in Quebec City. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the CHSRF/CIHR Chair on Transfer of Knowledge and Innovation at Laval University. His research interests are focused around innovation in the manufacturing sector, strategic management, and virtual organizations. He published an article and a book chapter on management of technologies and virtual organizations. He also has communications in prestigious conferences such as the Academy of Management meeting, the DRUID (Danish Research Unit for Industrial Dynamics) and the AIMS (Association internationale de management stratégique).

    Dr Réjean Landry is Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the holder of a Chair on Knowledge Transfer and Innovation. Dr Landry is professor at the Department of Management of the Faculty of Business at Laval University in Quebec City where he teaches on knowledge transfer. He has published extensively on public policies, innovation and knowledge transfer. His most recent works on innovation and knowledge transfer have been published in Public Administration Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Research Policy and Science Communication. Réjean Landry is also the head the Réseau Innovation Network (RIN) which brings together more than 650 members, comprising 50 university researchers and students, and 600 partners from public, private and not for profit organizations. The RIN edits a weekly electronic newsletter: INNOV.

    Dr Nabil Amara is assistant professor at the Department of Management of the Faculty of Business at Laval University in Quebec City. He is also the co-director of CHSRF/CIHR Chair on Transfer of Knowledge and Innovation at Laval University in Quebec City. His research interests focus on innovation in manufacturing sector and the measurement of efficiency of knowledge transfer in private and public sector. His most significant works on innovation and knowledge transfer have been published in Research Policy, Public Administration Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technovation and Science Communication.

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