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Sustainable and Traditional Product Innovation without Scale and Experience, but Only for KIBS!

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  • Esteban Lafuente

    (Department of Management, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona 08034, Spain)

  • Yancy Vaillant

    (Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Toulouse Business School (TBS) 1 Place Alphonse Jourdain, 31068 Toulouse CEDEX 7, France
    Departamento de Gestión Organizacional, Universidad de la Costa, Calle No. 58, 55-66 Barranquilla, Colombia)

  • Juan Carlos Leiva

    (Business School, Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), 15th Street, 14th Avenue, Cartago 30101, Costa Rica)

Abstract

This study analyzes the ideal strategic trajectory for sustainable and traditional product innovation. Using a sample of 74 Costa Rican high-performance businesses for 2016, we employ fuzzy set analysis (qualitative comparative analysis) to evaluate how the development of sustainable and traditional product innovation strategies is conditioned by the business’ learning capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation in knowledge-intensive (KIBS) and non-knowledge-intensive businesses. The results indicate two ideal strategic configurations of product innovation. The first strategic configuration to reach maximum product innovation requires the presence of KIBS firms that have both an entrepreneurial and learning orientation, while the second configuration is specific to non-KIBS firms with greater firm size and age along with entrepreneurial and learning orientation. KIBS firms are found to leverage the knowledge-based and customer orientations that characterize their business model in order to compensate for the shortage of important organizational characteristics—which we link to liabilities or smallness and newness—required to achieve optimal sustainable and traditional product innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Esteban Lafuente & Yancy Vaillant & Juan Carlos Leiva, 2018. "Sustainable and Traditional Product Innovation without Scale and Experience, but Only for KIBS!," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:4:p:1169-:d:140956
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    5. Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran & Bustinza, Oscar F. & Opazo-Basaez, Marco, 2021. "Information technologies and product-service innovation: The moderating role of service R&D team structure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 673-687.
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    7. Veronika Bumberová & František Milichovský, 2020. "Influence of Determinants on Innovations in Small KIBS Firms in the Czech Republic before COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-21, September.
    8. Wim Coreynen & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Johanna Vanderstraeten, 2021. "Toward Servitized Research: An Integrated Approach for Sustainable Product-Service Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-21, July.
    9. Lafuente, Esteban & Vaillant, Yancy & Alvarado, Marco & Mora-Esquivel, Ronald & Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran, 2021. "Experience as a catalyst of export destinations: The ambidextrous connection between international experience and past entrepreneurial experience," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1).
    10. Simona Bigerna & Silvia Micheli, 2018. "Attitudes Toward Electric Vehicles: The Case of Perugia Using a Fuzzy Set Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    11. Lafuente, Esteban & Vaillant, Yancy & Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran, 2019. "Conformance and performance roles of bank boards: The connection between non-performing loans and non-performing directorships," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 664-673.
    12. Lafuente, Esteban & Vaillant, Yancy & Rabetino, Rodrigo, 2023. "Digital disruption of optimal co-innovation configurations," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    13. Lafuente, Esteban & Araya, Manuel & Leiva, Juan Carlos, 2022. "Assessment of local competitiveness: A composite indicator analysis of Costa Rican counties using the ‘Benefit of the Doubt’ model," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Veronika Bumberová & František Milichovský, 2019. "Sustainability Development of Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: Strategic Actions and Business Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-19, September.
    15. Vinit Parida & David Sjödin & Wiebke Reim, 2019. "Reviewing Literature on Digitalization, Business Model Innovation, and Sustainable Industry: Past Achievements and Future Promises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-18, January.
    16. Ahmad Hanfan & Hayati Nupus & Lutfi, 2020. "Iconic Product Advantage for Improving Marketing Performance of Indonesian Small and Medium Enterprises," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(1), pages 31-41.

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