Recent research suggests that information systems (IS) and electronic commerce could provide significant opportunities to the small business sector to overcome various technological, organisational, managerial and environmental deficiencies. Existing e-Commerce research in small business is mostly exploratory in nature and lacks the presence of an endorsing theoretical framework, which this paper attempts to address. This research also attempts to identify factors influencing e-Commerce adoption in small business in New Zealand. The uniqueness of the New Zealand perspective

This article looks at the effects of office mechanisation in greater detail by describing data processing innovations in major building societies during the dawn of the computer era. Reference to similar developments in clearing banks, industrial and computer organisations provides evidence as to the common experience in the computerisation of firms in the post-war years. As a result, research in this article offers a comparison between widespread technological change and changes unique to service sector organisations. Moreover, research in this article ascertains the extent to which the adoption of computer-related innovations in financial services sought to satisfy financial, rather than management accounting, purposes. [Work in Progress. Please do not quote.]

Sustained competitive advantage depends heavily on the ability of organisations to internalise the benefits of innovative activities. While the vital importance of innovation in today’s competitive climate has been widely proclaimed, our understanding of innovative behaviour in service organisations is not yet fully developed. This article documents an interpretative approach (based on archival research and semi-structured interviews) of the main drivers of change in organisational function (process) and access to financial markets (service or product) in UK commercial banking. As a result, research in this article contributes the understanding of innovation in service organisations by exploring past and present perceptions of banks ' senior managers and management consultants on the importance and factors stimulating and constraining the adoption of new technology in financial intermediaries. * (Corresponding author)

(Milton Keynes) and the 3 rd

Despite a voluminous literature and widespread belief in the inherent value of innovation, our understanding of the innovation construct remains rudimentary. Extant research on innovation spans across a variety of disciplines and levels of analysis. Yet, the divergence in core assumptions and methodologies across disciplines, coupled with few systematic efforts to integrate findings, have seriously hampered the crossfertilization of research ideas in the field of innovation. The motivation for this work stems from the fragmentary nature of innovation research and the need for a more holistic, ecumenical outlook on innovation. We believe that this paper takes a step toward overcoming disciplinary myopia and a further step toward synthesizing the diverse innovation literature. In this paper, we provide a synopsis of the innovation literature, with an emphasis on how innovation may potentially be reframed to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the construct. To this end, the paper is structured as follows. First, we outline various semantic definitions of innovation and their lexical variants. We then briefly discuss three confluent, but distinct terms (creativity, invention and organizational change) often mistakenly perceived to be synonymous with innovation. Next, we delineate the levels of analysis associated with innovation research and describe exemplary research emerging from these domains. Finally, we identify a number of promising research directions and propose an integrative cross-level model of innovation to energize future innovation research. 3

Human resources are considered as one of the most important competitive advantages of organizations. University executives should be aware of how to manage this strategic resource and how to utilize it effectively. Moreover, organizational innovations are necessary to cope with and influence environmental changes. A descriptivecorrelative research method was utilized. The Statistical population included all faculty members of state Isfahan universities during 2010 2011year from which a sample 492 was selected through stratified random sampling. The data gathering instruments included strategic human resource practices (SHRP) questionnaire based on Chen and Hung's study (2009), and organizational innovation questionnaire based on Hongming's et al study (2007). The questionnaires ' face and content validity confirmed by experts and their reliability were estimated 0.95 and 0.93 respectively through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The gathered data was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. (SHRP) and organizational innovation mean scores were lower than mean criteria and there was a significant multiple correlations between (SHRP) and organizational innovation. Beta coefficients among (SHRP) and administrative innovation and technical innovation were

How do internal capabilities and external partnerships

Introducing and innovating services is advocated as a means by which manufacturing firms in advanced economies can retain or enhance their competitiveness. But little is known about how manufacturers innovate services, nor about the impact of service innovation on manufacturers ’ performance. Using two consecutive waves of the UK Innovation Survey, this paper first examines how manufacturers innovate services, comparing this with how they innovate goods (i.e., material products) and production processes. We find that manufacturers tend to innovate services differently: R&D is found to be unimportant, whilst investments in marketing and training are found to be related to service innovation. The paper then examines the impact of service innovation on performance, in terms of innovative sales per employee and total sales per employee. We find that service innovation does not increase innovative sales but is associated with higher total sales per employee.