How does strategic flexibility affect bricolage: The moderating role of environmental turbulence

Supporting Actionable Science for Environmental Policy: Advice for Funding Agencies From Decision Makers

Successful incorporation of scientific knowledge into environmental policy and decisions is a significant challenge. Although studies on how to bridge the knowledge-action gap have proliferated over the last decade, few have investigated the roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for funding bodies to meet this challenge. In this study we present a set of criteria gleaned from interviews with experts across Canada that can be used by funding bodies to evaluate the potential for proposed research to produce actionable knowledge for environmental policy and practice. We also provide recommendations for how funding bodies can design funding calls and foster the skills required to bridge the knowledge-action gap. We interviewed 84 individuals with extensive experience as knowledge users at the science-policy interface who work for environmentally-focused federal and provincial/territorial government bodies and non-governmental organizations. Respondents were asked to describe elements of research proposals that indicate that the resulting research is likely to be useful in a policy context, and what advice they would give to funding bodies to increase the potential impact of sponsored research. Twenty-five individuals also completed a closed-ended survey that followed up on these questions. Research proposals that demonstrated (1) a team with diverse expertise and experience in co-production, (2) a flexible research plan that aligns timelines and spatial scale with policy needs, (3) a clear and demonstrable link to a policy issue, and (4) a detailed and diverse knowledge exchange plan for reaching relevant stakeholders were seen as more promising for producing actionable knowledge. Suggested changes to funding models to enhance utility of funded research included (1) using diverse expertise to adjudicate awards, (2) supporting co-production and interdisciplinary research through longer grant durations and integrated reward structures, and (3) following-up on and rewarding knowledge exchange by conducting impact evaluation. The set of recommendations presented here can guide both funding agencies and research teams who wish to change how applied environmental science is conducted and improve its connection to policy and practice.

RD internationalization, domestic technology alliance, and innovation in emerging market

Although R&D internationalization plays an important role in enterprises’ globalization, few studies explore the mechanism of R&D internationalization and emerging market companies’ innovation, or the relationship between R&D internationalization, domestic technology alliances and absorptive capacity. How does the R&D internationalization of emerging market enterprises affect the innovation of those enterprises? Under fierce market competition, do absorption capacity and domestic technology alliances have a significant impact on enterprise innovation? From the perspective of the knowledge-based view, this paper studies 185 enterprises undergoing R&D internationalization in China from 2012 to 2017, using high-dimensional Poisson fixed effects model, we use instrumental (HDFE IV) estimation to explain the impact of R&D internationalization on the innovation of the parent company and the mechanism behind it. The study finds that R&D internationalization positively promotes the parent company’s innovation, and domestic technology alliances and absorptive capacity play a partial mediator role in R&D internationalization. In the face of fierce market competition, domestic technical alliances play a significant role in promoting enterprise innovation, while absorptive capacity plays a negative role in promoting enterprise innovation with the moderating effect of market competition.

Executives’ Environmental Awareness and Eco-Innovation: An Attention-Based View

Eco-innovation is conducive to reducing the costs and impacts on the environment. Meanwhile, executives play an important role in the whole process of enterprise innovation. However, it is unclear whether and to what extent executives’ environmental awareness (EA) affects eco-innovation (EI). Based on the attention-based view, this study discussed the mediating effect of resource flexibility (RF) on the impact of EA on EI and explored the moderating effect of unabsorbed slack resources (USRs). Using surveys collected from 162 Chinese manufacturing firms, we found that (1) EA has a positive impact on EI; (2) RF partially mediates the relationship between EA and eco-management innovation (EMI) and EA and eco-product innovation (EPI); and (3) the effect of EA on EPI weakens with the level of USRs, but the effect of EA on EMI is not affected by the level of USRs. From the perspective of managers’ attention, this study not only enriches the main drivers of eco-innovation but also provides a theoretical and practical framework for the promotion and development of eco-innovation in China.