Exploring the Context Dependence of Firms’ Innovation Activities

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atmire.migration.oldid5622
dc.contributor.advisorDewald, Jim
dc.contributor.authorMahdaviMazdeh, Hossein
dc.contributor.committeememberFalkenberg, Loren
dc.contributor.committeememberHawkins, Richard
dc.contributor.committeememberSaunders, Chad
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-31T15:47:26Z
dc.date.available2017-05-31T15:47:26Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.date.submitted2017en
dc.description.abstractHow do firms adjust their innovation activities to their situational and contextual setting? The extant literature does not provide a clear answer to this question as the context moves away from high-tech industries and R&D based innovations. This theoretical gap is reflected in the managerial practice in form of hardship in managing innovation in “low-tech” industries and underestimating the non-R&D opportunities of innovation across industries. This dissertation intends to contribute to filling this gap through addressing the following research questions: 1) What is the role of industry characteristics in determining the firm's decision regarding innovation both in an active decision making environment and in reaction to performance shortfall problems? And 2) what are the firm-specific factors that contribute to a firm's innovativeness and approach to innovation specially as measured by non-R&D proxies? I use three different datasets and methods each building part of the puzzle to provide a clear picture. In the first essay, I investigate the industry and firm characteristics that lead to choice of R&D and non-R&D forms of innovation in response to problems and propose theoretical insights that I verify using data on financial activities of public firms. In the second essay, I conduct a meta-analysis of innovation publications that uncovers the importance of non-cash input (absorbed slack) to firms’ innovativeness and identify the setting that such input makes the most impact. Finally, in the third essay, I use unique data about innovation activities of Canadian public and private firms to distinctly study the innovation approaches of resource industries – as one of the neglected industries in the innovation literature – and investigate how innovation in these industries is induced, measured, and utilized.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMahdaviMazdeh, H. (2017). Exploring the Context Dependence of Firms’ Innovation Activities (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26106en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26106
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/3863
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectBusiness Administration--Management
dc.subject.otherBehavioral theory
dc.subject.otherInnovation
dc.subject.otherSlack
dc.subject.otherNatural resource industries
dc.subject.otherProblemistic search
dc.titleExploring the Context Dependence of Firms’ Innovation Activities
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineManagement
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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