IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i16p4275-d255602.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Linkage between Sustainability and Innovation Performance in IT Hardware Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca Michelino

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy)

  • Antonello Cammarano

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy)

  • Andrea Celone

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy)

  • Mauro Caputo

    (Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy)

Abstract

This work investigates the relationship between sustainability and innovation performance. Despite the relevance of the issue, few contributions deepen such a relationship after both a conceptual and a quantitative perspective. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to suggest a measure of sustainability for innovation processes and to define which innovation strategies can lead to more sustainable processes. The role of ambidexterity within the corporate sustainability framework is underlined: Ambidextrous organizations are able to improve the innovation performance and better use their resources, improving the sustainability of research and development (R&D) processes. By employing patent data and testing the framework on a sample of worldwide top R&D spending companies in the IT hardware industry, this work suggests which optimal value of ambidexterity will lead to more sustainable innovation. In addition, R&D processes with non-optimal levels of ambidexterity can be managed in a better way. Indeed, results show the usefulness of open innovation adoption to improve the performance of exploration processes. Moreover, R&D activities based on a preponderance of exploitation strategies are more sustainable if they fall into technological domains in which the focal company is highly specialized. The work also contributes to the conceptualization of sustainability and to definition of patent-based metrics related to sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Michelino & Antonello Cammarano & Andrea Celone & Mauro Caputo, 2019. "The Linkage between Sustainability and Innovation Performance in IT Hardware Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:16:p:4275-:d:255602
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/16/4275/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/16/4275/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juan Alcácer & Michelle Gittelman, 2006. "Patent Citations as a Measure of Knowledge Flows: The Influence of Examiner Citations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 774-779, November.
    2. Jurriën Bakker & Dennis Verhoeven & Lin Zhang & Bart Van Looy, 2016. "Patent citation indicators: One size fits all?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(1), pages 187-211, January.
    3. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    4. Pedro Monteiro & Teresa De Noronha & Paulo Neto, 2013. "A Differentiation Framework for Maritime Clusters: Comparisons across Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(9), pages 1-30, September.
    5. Mariana Mazzucato & Massimiliano Tancioni, 2013. "R&D, Patents and Stock Return Volatility," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Esben Sloth Andersen (ed.), Long Term Economic Development, edition 127, pages 341-362, Springer.
    6. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Jaffee, Adam & Trajtenberg, Manuel, 2000. "Market Value and Patent Citations: A First Look," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt1rh8k6z2, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    7. Zi-Lin He & Poh-Kam Wong, 2004. "Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 481-494, August.
    8. Juan Santalo & Manuel Becerra, 2008. "Competition from Specialized Firms and the Diversification–Performance Linkage," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(2), pages 851-883, April.
    9. Campbell, Gary A., 1990. "Diversification or specialization : The role of risk," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 293-306, December.
    10. Gabriella Arcese & Serena Flammini & Maria Caludia Lucchetti & Olimpia Martucci, 2015. "Evidence and Experience of Open Sustainability Innovation Practices in the Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-24, June.
    11. Daniela Rupo & Mirko Perano & Giovanna Centorrino & Alfonso Vargas-Sanchez, 2018. "A Framework Based on Sustainability, Open Innovation, and Value Cocreation Paradigms—A Case in an Italian Maritime Cluster," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-28, March.
    12. Sang-Oh Shim & KyungBae Park & SungYong Choi, 2017. "Innovative Production Scheduling with Customer Satisfaction Based Measurement for the Sustainability of Manufacturing Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Francesco Cappa & Fausto Del Sette & Darren Hayes & Federica Rosso, 2016. "How to Deliver Open Sustainable Innovation: An Integrated Approach for a Sustainable Marketable Product," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Cammarano, Antonello & Michelino, Francesca & Lamberti, Emilia & Caputo, Mauro, 2017. "Accumulated stock of knowledge and current search practices: The impact on patent quality," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 204-222.
    15. Gregory D. Graff, 2003. "Observing Technological Trajectories in Patent Data: Empirical Methods to Study the Emergence and Growth of New Technologies," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1266-1274.
    16. Constantine Andriopoulos & Marianne W. Lewis, 2009. "Exploitation-Exploration Tensions and Organizational Ambidexterity: Managing Paradoxes of Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 696-717, August.
    17. Lori Rosenkopf & Atul Nerkar, 2001. "Beyond local search: boundary‐spanning, exploration, and impact in the optical disk industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 287-306, April.
    18. Albert, M. B. & Avery, D. & Narin, F. & McAllister, P., 1991. "Direct validation of citation counts as indicators of industrially important patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 251-259, June.
    19. Dahlin, Kristina B. & Behrens, Dean M., 2005. "When is an invention really radical?: Defining and measuring technological radicalness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 717-737, June.
    20. Gautam Ahuja & Curba Morris Lampert, 2001. "Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 521-543, June.
    21. Stefan Schaltegger & Marcus Wagner, 2006. "Integrative management of sustainability performance, measurement and reporting," International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19.
    22. Enrique Loredo & Nuria Lopez-Mielgo & Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde & María Teresa García-Álvarez, 2019. "Utilities: Innovation and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, February.
    23. Lee Fleming & Olav Sorenson, 2004. "Science as a map in technological search," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 909-928, August.
    24. Francesco Cappa & Federica Rosso & Darren Hayes, 2019. "Monetary and Social Rewards for Crowdsourcing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, May.
    25. Harhoff, Dietmar & Scherer, Frederic M. & Vopel, Katrin, 2003. "Citations, family size, opposition and the value of patent rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1343-1363, September.
    26. Kristina Dahlin & Deans M. Behrens, 2005. "When is an invention really radical? Defining and measuring technological radicalness," Post-Print hal-00480416, HAL.
    27. Alireza Javanmardi Kashan & Kavoos Mohannak & Mirko Perano & Gian Luca Casali, 2018. "A Discovery of Multiple Levels of Open Innovation in Understanding the Economic Sustainability. A Case Study in the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    28. Seung-Hee Lee & Jane Workman & Kwangho Jung, 2016. "Perception of Time, Creative Attitudes, and Adoption of Innovations: A Cross-Cultural Study from Chinese and US College Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-18, November.
    29. Maurice J. Lyver & Ta-Jung Lu, 2018. "Sustaining Innovation Performance in SMEs: Exploring the Roles of Strategic Entrepreneurship and IT Capabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-27, February.
    30. Xing Wan & Javier Cenamor & Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2017. "Unraveling Platform Strategies: A Review from an Organizational Ambidexterity Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    31. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias, 2004. "Sustainable Value Added--measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-187, February.
    32. Antonello Cammarano & Mauro Caputo & Emilia Lamberti & Francesca Michelino, 2017. "R&D Collaboration Strategies for Innovation: An Empirical Study Through Social Network Analysis," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(01), pages 1-24, February.
    33. Yu-Shan Chen & Ching-Hsun Chang & Yu-Hsien Lin, 2014. "The Determinants of Green Radical and Incremental Innovation Performance: Green Shared Vision, Green Absorptive Capacity, and Green Organizational Ambidexterity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-20, November.
    34. Lee Fleming, 2001. "Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 117-132, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vincenzo Varriale & Antonello Cammarano & Francesca Michelino & Mauro Caputo, 2021. "Sustainable Supply Chains with Blockchain, IoT and RFID: A Simulation on Order Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Vincenzo Varriale & Antonello Cammarano & Francesca Michelino & Mauro Caputo, 2020. "The Unknown Potential of Blockchain for Sustainable Supply Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-16, November.
    3. Leonardo Mazzoni & Silvia Rita Sedita, 2025. "Unpacking the drivers of the socio-environmental sustainability of new ventures: insights from innovative digital start-ups in Italy," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-35, December.
    4. Jie Zhen & Cejun Cao & Hanguang Qiu & Zongxiao Xie, 2021. "Impact of organizational inertia on organizational agility: the role of IT ambidexterity," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 53-65, March.
    5. Maria Federica Cordova & Andrea Celone, 2019. "SDGs and Innovation in the Business Context Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-14, December.
    6. Vinicius Minatogawa & Matheus Franco & Orlando Durán & Ruy Quadros & Maria Holgado & Antonio Batocchio, 2020. "Carving out New Business Models in a Small Company through Contextual Ambidexterity: The Case of a Sustainable Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-34, March.
    7. Abdul Rashid, Azwan & See, Kok Fong & Yu, Ming-Miin, 2024. "Measuring airline efficiency using a dynamic network data envelopment analysis in the presence of innovation capital," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    8. Mark Anthony Camilleri & Ciro Troise & Serena Strazzullo & Stefano Bresciani, 2023. "Creating shared value through open innovation approaches: Opportunities and challenges for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4485-4502, November.
    9. Mahvish Aslam & Imran Shafi & Jamil Ahmed & Mirtha Silvana Garat de Marin & Emmanuel Soriano Flores & Marco Antonio Rojo Gutiérrez & Imran Ashraf, 2023. "Impact of Innovation-Oriented Human Resource on Small and Medium Enterprises’ Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, April.
    10. Kimpimäki, Jaan-Pauli & Malacina, Iryna & Lähdeaho, Oskari, 2022. "Open and sustainable: An emerging frontier in innovation management?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    11. Sunyoung Park, 2019. "Identification of Overall Innovation Behavior by Using a Decision Tree: The Case of a Korean Manufacturer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-54, November.
    12. Sotiris P. Gayialis & Evripidis P. Kechagias & Georgios A. Papadopoulos & Nikolaos A. Panayiotou, 2022. "A Business Process Reference Model for the Development of a Wine Traceability System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    13. Yu Zhang & Xuechun Zhang & Hao Zhang & Lusi A, 2022. "The Influence of External Knowledge Searches on Enterprises’ Innovation Performance: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-23, July.
    14. Joana Costa & João C.O. Matias, 2020. "Open Innovation 4.0 as an Enhancer of Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    15. Simeoni, Francesca & Brunetti, Federico & Mion, Giorgio & Baratta, Rossella, 2020. "Ambidextrous organizations for sustainable development: The case of fair-trade systems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 549-560.
    16. Davide Aloini & Riccardo Dulmin & Valeria Mininno & Alessandro Stefanini & Pierluigi Zerbino, 2020. "Driving the Transition to a Circular Economic Model: A Systematic Review on Drivers and Critical Success Factors in Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-14, December.
    17. Yina Zhang & Jiancheng Long & Wu Zhao, 2021. "Relational Embeddedness and BOP-Oriented Dynamic Capability—A Multi-Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, May.
    18. Sommer, Daniel & Bhandari, Krishna Raj, 2022. "Internationalization of R&D and Innovation Performance in the Pharma Industry," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3).
    19. Maria Gil-Marques & Maria D. Moreno-Luzon, 2020. "Building Sustainable Contextual Ambidexterity through Routines: A Case Study from Information Technology Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-19, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cammarano, Antonello & Michelino, Francesca & Lamberti, Emilia & Caputo, Mauro, 2017. "Accumulated stock of knowledge and current search practices: The impact on patent quality," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 204-222.
    2. Plantec, Quentin & Le Masson, Pascal & Weil, Benoît, 2021. "Impact of knowledge search practices on the originality of inventions: A study in the oil & gas industry through dynamic patent analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    3. Leone, Maria Isabella & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Natalicchio, Angelo, 2022. "Boundary spanning through external technology acquisition: The moderating role of star scientists and upstream alliances," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    4. Quentin Plantec & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2020. "Impact of knowledge search practices on the originality of inventions: a study in the oil & gas industry," Post-Print hal-02613665, HAL.
    5. Schoenmakers, Wilfred & Duysters, Geert, 2010. "The technological origins of radical inventions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1051-1059, October.
    6. William Arant & Dirk Fornahl & Nils Grashof & Kolja Hesse & Cathrin Söllner, 2019. "University-industry collaborations—The key to radical innovations? [Universität-Industrie-Kooperationen – Der Schlüssel zu radikalen Innovationen?]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 39(2), pages 119-141, October.
    7. Kathryn Rudie Harrigan & Maria Chiara Guardo & Elona Marku, 2018. "Patent value and the Tobin’s q ratio in media services," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 1-19, February.
    8. Kathryn Rudie Harrigan & Maria Chiara Guardo & Bo Cowgill, 2017. "Multiplicative-innovation synergies: tests in technological acquisitions," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(5), pages 1212-1233, October.
    9. Anindya Ghosh & Xavier Martin & Johannes M. Pennings & Filippo Carlo Wezel, 2014. "Ambition Is Nothing Without Focus: Compensating for Negative Transfer of Experience in R&D," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 572-590, April.
    10. Ugo Rizzo & Nicolò Barbieri & Laura Ramaciotti & Demian Iannantuono, 2020. "The division of labour between academia and industry for the generation of radical inventions," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 393-413, April.
    11. Strumsky, Deborah & Lobo, José, 2015. "Identifying the sources of technological novelty in the process of invention," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1445-1461.
    12. Barbieri, Nicolò & Marzucchi, Alberto & Rizzo, Ugo, 2020. "Knowledge sources and impacts on subsequent inventions: Do green technologies differ from non-green ones?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(2).
    13. Qu, Guannan & Chen, Jin & Zhang, Ruhao & Wang, Luyao & Yang, Yayu, 2023. "Technological search strategy and breakthrough innovation: An integrated approach based on main-path analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    14. Kathryn Rudie Harrigan & Maria Chiara DiGuardo, 2017. "Sustainability of patent-based competitive advantage in the U.S. communications services industry," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1334-1361, December.
    15. Kok, Holmer & Faems, Dries & de Faria, Pedro, 2020. "Ties that matter: The impact of alliance partner knowledge recombination novelty on knowledge utilization in R&D alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    16. Keupp, Marcus Matthias & Gassmann, Oliver, 2013. "Resource constraints as triggers of radical innovation: Longitudinal evidence from the manufacturing sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1457-1468.
    17. Stephan, Annegret & Bening, Catharina R. & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Schwarz, Marius & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2019. "The role of inter-sectoral knowledge spillovers in technological innovations: The case of lithium-ion batteries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    18. Nemet, Gregory F. & Johnson, Evan, 2012. "Do important inventions benefit from knowledge originating in other technological domains?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 190-200.
    19. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Ferrándiz & Manuel Jiménez, 2022. "Effects of knowledge spillovers between competitors on patent quality: what patent citations reveal about a global duopoly," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 1451-1487, October.
    20. Massimo Colombo & Liliana Doganova & Evila Piva & Diego D’Adda & Philippe Mustar, 2015. "Hybrid alliances and radical innovation: the performance implications of integrating exploration and exploitation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 696-722, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:16:p:4275-:d:255602. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.