Innovation and its diffusion: process, actors and actions

ABSTRACT

Seeking to understand factors affecting innovation diffusion, research has increasingly focused on process, actors and activities. After two decades of research, however, a systematisation of these three sets of studies is still lacking. Thus, this paper contributes to the existing literature providing a comprehensive framework of factors affecting innovation diffusion between organisations. Specifically it evidences phases of innovation diffusion process, clarifies the role of innovator, adopters and intermediaries and evidences actions that policy-makers can implement to support it.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation diffusion
• process
• actors
• actions

Notes on contributors

Rosa Caiazza is Professor of strategy at Parthenope University of Naples. She is board advisory member of Academy of Management Perspective, Corporate Governance and several other A journals. She was visiting researcher at Wharton University of Philadelphia (USA) and Univeristè Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). She is the author of many articles published in top-tier academic journals on interlocking directorates and M&A. She was chairman of many Eiasm Conferences on M&A. She had ‘Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence’. Her main research topics are: corporate and business strategies, internationalisation, cross-cultural management, M&A and corporate governance.

Tiziana Volpe is Researcher at National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Research on Innovation and Services for Development (IRISS). She has a PhD in ‘Agro-food and Environment Resource Economy’ at the University of Naples ‘Parthenope’. She has been involved in many research activities such as: ‘Cross National Spin-Offs, Policy and Institutes’ for the Institute of Development Strategies, School of Public and Environmental Research of Indiana University (USA) and ‘Innovation in Agro-Food’ for the Saint Joseph’s University’ (USA). Her research interests concern agro-food, innovation, logistic and other activities of value chain. She wrote many articles on these topics for national and international journals.

ORCiD

Rosa Caiazza http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-9973