Responsible innovation at the firm-level : tracing in car industry
Innovation is an essential activity for the competitiveness of firms. It has also contributed positively to increasing the living standards of millions of people. However, it is widely recognized that innovation co-produces unintended impacts on socio- economic and ecological systems. Existing mecha...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2016 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | CBUC, CESCA |
| Repositorio: | TDR. Tesis Doctorales en Red |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/385859 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10803/385859 https://dx.doi.org/10.5821/dissertation-2117-96212 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria mecànica 331 |
| Sumario: | Innovation is an essential activity for the competitiveness of firms. It has also contributed positively to increasing the living standards of millions of people. However, it is widely recognized that innovation co-produces unintended impacts on socio- economic and ecological systems. Existing mechanisms of control and authorization, i.e. regulations, are inefficient in preventing the diffusion of innovations which give rise to ethical, social, economic and/or environmental concerns. The ineffiency of regulations and the increasing capability of science and technology to create long-lasting and far-reaching impacts have stressed the need of introducing responsibility issues through innovation processes. The aim is to foster the generation of ethically acceptable, socially desirable and sustainable innovation. But, how can firms generate innovation in a more responsible manner? The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of the Responsible Innovation (RI) approach. In particular, its aim is to propose and validate a framework for helping firms to innovate more responsibly. For achieving this aim, the thesis is organized around a two-stage research procedure. First, an extensive literature research on models and approaches of innovation is conducted to generate a theoretical framework explaining how to innovate more responsibly. The literature review reveals the shortcomings of the Linear and Interactive models, Innovation Systems models, Open Innovation model and the Sustainable Innovation approach, for helping firms to innovate responsibly. Therefore, the emerging approach of RI is explored. The literature review shows that three frameworks for RI have been proposed so far. The analysis of these frameworks leads to the adoption of one as the most suitable for addressing the research objective of this dissertation. The theoretical framework suggests that the generation of RI is contingent on ensuring care of certain values for sustainability through the innovation process. For ensuring care of values, the framework proposes five dimensions: Anticipation, Participation, Deliberation, Reflexivity and Responsiveness. As an evolving theory, the adopted framework shows two shortcomings that requires further research: 1) the framework does not suggest methods for deploying the dimensions at firm-level; and 2) it provides little empirical evidence supporting its validity. To overcome the first shortcoming, the five dimensions are further developed and a set of methods are proposed based on a literature review.The second stage of this thesis focuses on the empirical research part. This part aims to overcome the second shortcoming of the framework for RI, i.e. the little empirical evidence supporting its validity. Thereby, a multi-case study research strategy is adopted as the most suitable to test the validity of the framework. The research design involves the elaboration of a seven propositions. Then, three cases from the car industry are selected and analysed as potential instances of RI. The first case refers to an innovation process aimed to commercialize electric vehicles. The second case is an innovation process aimed at commecializing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems for enhancing the safety and competitiveness of certain vehicles. The last case is an innovation process that created a new safety system aimed at reducing the potential consequences of car accidents. The cross-analysis of the cases provides evidence which confirmes the seven propositions and therefore the validity of the framework for explaining how to generate RI. Conclusions and practical implications for firms attempting to innovate responsibly are drawn based on the case results. The main contribution of this research is a set of validated mechanisms which can be used at the firm level for fostering the generation of innovation outcomes which contribute to sustainability. |
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