Guest editorial

Citation

Trusko, B.E. (2017), "Guest editorial", International Journal of Innovation Science, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 318-319. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIS-10-2017-0105

We will be fine

An interesting request came into my office last week. As some of our readers know, I am periodically asked to appear on the radio or television to discuss innovation, the International Association of Innovation Professionals (IAOIP) and what is happening in our world as it relates to innovation.

Over the past several months, more and more interview hosts are asking me about the state of the world. Polarized politics, increased fear, threats of war and how innovation will save us or how it may be the main reason for where we are today. In a sense, whenever we see significant societal change, we see great upheaval. This change is generally seen as progress and necessary by one side of the argument, while the other side sees uncontrolled change and legitimately fears what might happen to them and their children.

The requests I have been receiving lately have been specific to the ongoing feeling of despair by both sides of the discussion, so I’m asked if I can put a positive spin on everything that is happening. Can I help people find a way past bad news fatigue? Well, the best I can do is to recognize that people are anxious and offer a positive and uplifting message to both sides.

Taking a neutral perspective, it is easy to see why both sides are afraid. As an innovation professional, I can also see our part in adding to this fear. Accordingly, my New Year resolution for 2018 will be to be more positive about all I can see coming from all sides of the equation – to offer a message that hopefully resonates with all of our readers and members. And I will start today.

This issue, as usual, contains six outstanding papers as follows:

1. “A conceptual model of frugal innovation: Is environmental munificence a missing link?” by Farooq offers a concept that I had not previously considered – that of frugal innovation. Sure, the fail-fast concept tells us that a way to avoid spending too much on innovation that may not pan out is to fail fast. But this takes a slightly different approach to innovation that is simple, sustainable and extremely affordable, leading to fast adoption by target customers. What seems like a given is, I believe, more important in countries such as India where budgets are smaller, and some might argue, innovation is different than in more wealthy countries.

2. “Corporate culture and long-term survival of Spanish innovative firms” by Tejeiro Koller et al. is a study of Spanish firms that are perceived as innovative. The results are interesting as related to culture, longevity and profitability. They show that Spanish firms perceived as innovative have a more innovative culture, resulting in greater resiliency but not necessarily more profit.

3. “Social value of an innovation ecosystem: The case of Leiden Bioscience Park, The Netherlands” by Fulgencio studies one science park in an effort to understand its social value. Traditionally, science parks are seen simply as a tool to bring companies together, generally to the financial benefit of the parties involved. This study suggests that there is also great social value that is derived from the formation of said park.

4. “Customer relationship management, innovation and performance” by Valmohammadi is another case of a limited study (Iranian manufacturers) and the relationship between customer relationship management (CRM) practices and organizational performance. Iran isn’t the only place where this is an issue and, therefore, this topic is generally applicable to small and medium enterprises throughout the world.

5. “Innovations in human resource practices: measurement development and validation” by Agarwal et al. discusses innovation in the Indian banking sector and how innovation has been measurably demonstrated. The importance of this paper lies in its’ specifically attaching measurements to innovation activities.

6. “Antecedents of e-business adoption intention: an empirical study” by Sarmah et al. examines the adoption of e-business opportunities by small and medium hotels in India. While the author indicates that the work is limited by the inclusion of only Indian hotels, the issue of small and medium enterprises and their ability to adopt electronic business tools may be applicable to other developing and developed countries, especially where entrepreneurialism is on the rise.

7. “Exploring future models of primary care for Texas” by Kash et al. is a little out of the ordinary of the journal, but we are seeing a greater number of innovators show a distinct interest in health-care innovation in the many forms it can take. These include payment and delivery alternatives, biomedical options, information technology models and many more. Most of us know that healthcare is one of the most difficult problems facing the world and that even the most cherished systems of delivery are not loved by everyone. Accordingly, we have included this paper to stimulate discussion.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to recognize the three special editors for this edition. Professor Rameshwar Dubey of the University of Montpellier, Professor Paul Mugge of The Center for Management Studies at North Carolina State University and Doctor Douglas Eames of Booz Allen Hamilton. Their review and preparation has not only produced a fine issue but also freed me up to build a learning management system for the IAOIP. And that’s good news that everyone can appreciate.

Sincerely,

Brett

Brett E. Trusko, DBA, MBA

Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Innovation Science

Assistant Professor, TX A&M University

President and Executive Director, International Association of Innovation Professionals

Prof.Trusko@InnovationScience.org

Trusko@medicine.tamhsc.edu

brett@iaoip.org