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Sustainability
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Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation
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Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 December 2021) | Viewed by 22352

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Josep Llach

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Organization, Business Management and Product Design, Universitat de Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Interests: innovation and quality management; sustainable and collaborative economy
Dr. Andrea Bikfalvi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Organization, Business Management and Product Design, Universitat de Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Interests: strategy; innovative projects; entrepreneurship
Dr. Rodolfo de Castro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Organization, Business Management and Product Design, Universitat de Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Interests: operations management; LEAN production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of continuous change and accelerated solutions needed to answer social, economic, environmental, and global societal challenges, innovation is the backbone of progress and one of the possible answers. It has long captured the interest of academics, business, and policymakers, and it continues to do so due to its multidisciplinary character, uneven implementation in organization, regions and nations, and complexity.

New technology and novel approaches of work organization make the apparently already traditional topics of technological innovation and organizational innovation an evergreen area deserving attention from both researchers and implementers. While the big picture is composed by antecedents’—decisions/processes—impact, potential adopters are mostly interested in performance explaining stories, in conditions where innovations are conceptually endorsed by their advantages and benefits for organizations, units, and individuals.

It is in this context that the assumption is that new technology and organisational concepts generate a new impact, and therefore, the objective of this Special issue is to advance knowledge by revisiting facets of impact in the light of new technologies accompanied by organizational innovations forming the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Further investigation is needed to discover positive, null, and negative impacts, complementarity or substitutive effects, types of impact areas (financial, operational, attitude, behaviour, etc.), impact fluctuation over time, as well as evidence on the spreading and diffusion of concrete tech-org solutions present in organization, a necessary and previous condition for impact generation.

Dr. Josep Llach
Dr. Andrea Bikfalvi
Dr. Rodolfo de Castro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Industry 4.0
  • Smart industry
  • New technologies
  • Technological innovation
  • Organizational innovation
  • Impact
  • Manufacturing
  • Small medium enterprises

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2168 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Product Complexity on Servitization and Deservitization: A Multi-Country Quantitative Analysis
by Jasna Prester, Andrea Bikfalvi and Iztok Palčič
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 11885; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911885 - 21 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1903
Abstract
Servitization is often based on technology, with the producer not selling products but rather offering product-related services. While servitization had been steadily gaining interest until relatively recently, a new trend called deservitization, the outsourcing of service provision, has seen a slow uptake in [...] Read more.
Servitization is often based on technology, with the producer not selling products but rather offering product-related services. While servitization had been steadily gaining interest until relatively recently, a new trend called deservitization, the outsourcing of service provision, has seen a slow uptake in the scientific literature. This work analyses why servitization is not always beneficial. We analyze the effect of product complexity on servitization and deservitization in three Southern European countries. Due to high competition and knowledge leaking, manufacturers of complex products tend to servitize with their own resources, thus avoiding deservitization or outsourcing of service provision. The analysis is performed using two-step OLS regression. The results confirm that the hypotheses and the model are significant and that manufacturers of simple products tend to deservitize, while manufacturers of complex products tend to servitize. Managerial implications refer to alternatives as to when to enter the servitization arena and when it is more beneficial to deservitize. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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14 pages, 4260 KiB  
Article
Performance Implications of Organizational and Technological Innovation: An Integrative Perspective
by Tanja Todorovic, Nenad Medic, Milan Delic, Nikola Zivlak and Danijela Gracanin
Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2836; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052836 - 28 Feb 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5051
Abstract
Manufacturing firms engage in various innovation activities to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Although technological innovation is considered one of the key performance drivers, organizational innovation has become increasingly prominent. This study analyzes the relationship between organizational and technological innovation and examines their [...] Read more.
Manufacturing firms engage in various innovation activities to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Although technological innovation is considered one of the key performance drivers, organizational innovation has become increasingly prominent. This study analyzes the relationship between organizational and technological innovation and examines their effect on firm performance in the manufacturing context. The empirical evidence is based on the European Manufacturing Survey (EMS)—Serbian data set gathered in 2018. Hypotheses on the relationship between organizational and technological innovations and firm performance are tested by structural equation modeling using data from 240 Serbian manufacturing firms. The results have shown that technological concepts strongly mediate the impact of organizational factors on firm performance (return on sales—ROS). Moreover, it could be said that, in contrast to the individual approach, to foster a ROS, a synergic effect of organizational and technological concepts is needed, implying the need for an integrative perspective in the process of innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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16 pages, 451 KiB  
Article
Organizational (Non-) Adoption of Legally Obliged Energy-Saving Technologies: Why (Not) Comply?
by Carlijn G. C. van Helmond and Robert A. W. Kok
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1511; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031511 - 28 Jan 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2115
Abstract
Although there are organizations that have adopted legally imposed measures regarding energy-saving technologies, up until now, there has been a lot of unused energy-saving potential. Based on existing theories, such as the adoption theory and the institutional theory, this exploratory research investigates the [...] Read more.
Although there are organizations that have adopted legally imposed measures regarding energy-saving technologies, up until now, there has been a lot of unused energy-saving potential. Based on existing theories, such as the adoption theory and the institutional theory, this exploratory research investigates the reasons for firms to (or not to) adopt energy-saving technologies, even though they are legally obligated, and it has a positive impact on economic organizational performance. A “multiple mini-case” study, with six cases in the Dutch metalworking/electrical engineering sector and in the synthetic material/rubber sector, were conducted. Results show that, nowadays, organizations do not feel any regulatory pressures as they are not aware of the existence of the concerned legal obligations, e.g., where an organization’s self-awareness (of the relative advantages of the technologies) begins to play the most important role. To adopt the technologies, decision-makers must be convinced that adopting energy-saving technologies involves advantages for the organization and that the payback time is sufficient. Financial dilemmas negatively influence these adoption processes. Lastly, the continuous intentions of organizations to adopt energy-saving technologies appear to be positively related to the number of adopted technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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17 pages, 849 KiB  
Article
Implementation of Circular Economy Technologies: An Empirical Study of Slovak and Slovenian Manufacturing Companies
by Juraj Šebo, Miriam Šebová and Iztok Palčič
Sustainability 2021, 13(22), 12518; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212518 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3309
Abstract
Circular Economy (CE) practices and technologies are essential for increasing sustainability performance in manufacturing. Due to the increasing number of environmental regulations and growing public awareness of environmental issues, especially in the EU, CE is increasingly seen as a valuable factor in improving [...] Read more.
Circular Economy (CE) practices and technologies are essential for increasing sustainability performance in manufacturing. Due to the increasing number of environmental regulations and growing public awareness of environmental issues, especially in the EU, CE is increasingly seen as a valuable factor in improving competitiveness. Therefore, there is a need for a fuller understanding of the ways in which CE technologies can be implemented into the manufacturing industries. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the identification of the characteristics of manufacturing companies and their perceptions of the barriers to the adoption of CE technologies. This survey-based study of 241 manufacturing companies (comprising a sub-sample of Slovak and Slovenian companies from the more extensive European Manufacturing Survey) uses a series of statistical tests to examine the implementation of three CE technologies. The results show that there is significant relationship between the adoption of CE technologies in manufacturing companies and their size, location, R&D activities, company age and product batch size. Finally, the research reveals the surprising finding that there is no apparent link between the perception of CE barriers and the plans of companies to implement selected CE technologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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12 pages, 1601 KiB  
Article
A Precondition of Sustainability: Industry 4.0 Readiness
by Slavko Rakic, Marko Pavlovic and Ugljesa Marjanovic
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6641; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126641 - 10 Jun 2021
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 4284
Abstract
To achieve sustainability and further develop their businesses, manufacturing companies need to find an appropriate response to the frequent changes in customer demands, development of new technologies, and dynamic competition. One of the possible requirements for sustainability is the adoption of the Industry [...] Read more.
To achieve sustainability and further develop their businesses, manufacturing companies need to find an appropriate response to the frequent changes in customer demands, development of new technologies, and dynamic competition. One of the possible requirements for sustainability is the adoption of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. This paper aims to apply Industry 4.0 general readiness assessment methodology and social network analysis to find out the readiness level of Serbian manufacturing and how digital technologies interplay during the time. The results of this study show that wireless human-machine communication technologies initiated the digital transformation of Serbian manufacturing from non-users to basic readiness level. Secondly, manufacturing companies significantly invested in the Cyber-Physical Production System to increase the level towards high readiness. Finally, manufacturing companies in Serbia should consider investing in capabilities to adapt the Near real-time production control system if aiming to compete with competitors from developed countries. The main contribution of this paper is to show the general readiness level of manufacturing companies for digital transformation in transition economies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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22 pages, 1107 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Improvement of Technological Innovation Efficiency of New Energy Vehicle Enterprises in China Based on DEA-Tobit Model
by Siran Fang, Xiaoshan Xue, Ge Yin, Hong Fang, Jialin Li and Yongnian Zhang
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7509; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187509 - 11 Sep 2020
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 4831
Abstract
It is vital to promote and optimize the technological innovation efficiency of new energy vehicle (NEV) enterprises for the green transformation of China’s automobile industry. However, China’s NEV enterprises still have problems such as insufficient research of technology and unreasonable innovative resource allocation. [...] Read more.
It is vital to promote and optimize the technological innovation efficiency of new energy vehicle (NEV) enterprises for the green transformation of China’s automobile industry. However, China’s NEV enterprises still have problems such as insufficient research of technology and unreasonable innovative resource allocation. To improve the technological innovation efficiency of China’s NEV enterprises, the NEVs’ technological innovation process is divided into two stages: the research and development (R&D) stage and the achievement transformation stage in this research. Combining Tobit regression with data envelopment analysis (DEA), an evaluation framework of technological innovation efficiency of the NEV enterprises is constructed. Then, the innovation efficiency of 23 NEV listed enterprises from 2013 to 2018 is analyzed. The result reveals three findings. First, the overall technological innovation efficiency of NEV enterprises is low. Second, enterprises’ R&D efficiency is generally higher than the achievement transformation efficiency. Third, according to two-stage efficiency, 23 NEV enterprises are divided into four categories. For different types of enterprises, targeted guidance to improve innovation efficiency is proposed. This research provides a theoretical and practical basis for improving the innovation efficiency of NEV enterprises. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Revisiting the Impact of Technological and Organisational Innovation)
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