Success factors of innovation in resource-scarce environments

新兴工业化国家和发展中国家在经济金字塔底部资源有限的情况下进行创新，经常成为个案研究和轶事报告的主题。然而，文献中缺少的是理论基础和系统的实证分析，即企业如何在这些国家成功创新，以及企业需要哪些能力来成功创新。因此，对于企业如何在BoP环境下成功开展创新项目，并没有普遍的建议。因此，本研究旨在回答以下核心研究问题：(1)在防喷器背景下，创新项目成功的具体先决条件是什么？(2)资源约束型创新的组织能力是如何从创新项目中发展出来的？(3)工业化国家的企业在其传统市场的创新方面可以学习哪些知识？本文以企业资源基础观（RBV）为理论基础，采用两阶段实证设计来检验这些研究问题。在进行了深入的定性研究以发展关于BoP背景下创新成功的先决条件的假设之后，这些假设使用了一个定量的多层次研究来测试，该研究整合了组织和项目层面的调查，以便从这两个层面及其相互依赖关系中捕捉对创新成功的影响。在这里，我们特别关注成功的创新项目团队在使用稀缺物质资源时开发的能力如何用于开发物质资源受限创新的组织能力。因此，该分析明确地考虑了组织能力的微观基础和RBV的潜在基本假设。这个研究项目提供了几个贡献。从创新管理的角度出发，旨在洞察物质资源约束下创新的关键因素。从国际管理的角度来看，该研究旨在确定成功的新产品开发的先决条件，并在客户的物质资源稀缺的国家以及整个商业环境。此外，通过识别和检查RBV的微观基础，将推进关于RBV的文献。除了这些理论贡献之外，本研究项目还将提供实际意义。将向管理人员提供建议，不仅建议他们如何在防喷器市场中增加新产品开发的成功，而且建议公司一般如何设计更有效的创新过程并开发资源节约的产品。

Innovation for resource constrained contexts at the base of the economic pyramid (BoP) in newly industrializing and developing countries has been frequently subject of case studies and anecdotal reports. What is missing in the literature, however, is a theoretical foundation and a systematic empirical analysis of how firms can successfully innovate in these countries and which capabilities firms need to do so.Hence, there are no generalizable recommendations as to how firms can successfully conduct innovation projects in the BoP context. Therefore, this study aims at answering the following central research questions: (1) What are the specific antecedents of innovation project success in the BoP context? (2) How does an organizational capability of resource-constrained innovation evolve from the capabilities developed in such innovation projects? (3) Which can firms from industrialized countries learn with regard to innovations for their traditional markets?The Resource Based View of the firm (RBV) is used as the theoretical foundation to examine these research questions in a two-stage empirical design. After conducting an in-depth qualitative study to develop hypotheses on the antecedents of innovation success in the BoP context, these hypotheses are tested using a quantitative multi-level study that integrates the organizational and project level of enquiry in order to capture influences on innovation success from both of these levels and their interdependencies. Here, we especially focus on how the capabilities that successful innovation project teams develop when working with scarce material resources can be used for developing an organizational capability of material resource-constrained innovation. This analysis thus explicitly considers micro foundations of organizational capabilities and the underlying basic assumptions of the RBV. This research project offers a several contributions. From an innovation management perspective, it aims at providing insights on the key factors for material resource constrained innovation. From an international management perspective, the study aims to identify antecedents of successful new product development for and in countries that are characterized by scarce material resources of customers as well as the whole business environment. Moreover, the literature on the RBV will be advanced by identifying and examining micro-foundations of the RBV. Beyond these theoretical contributions this research project will also offer practical implications. Managers will be provided with recommendations not only how they can increase the success of new product development in and for BoP markets, but also how firms generally can design a more efficient innovation process and develop resource-parsimonious products.