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Innovar

Print version ISSN 0121-5051

Innovar vol.27 no.65 Bogotá July/Sept. 2017

https://doi.org/10.15446/innovar.v27n65.64884 

Editorial

Editorial

MAURICIO GÓMEZ VILLEGAS1 

1 Director y Editor General - INNOVAR Profesor Asociado Escuela de Administración y Contaduría Pública Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia


Innovation is a core topic for the social and administrative sciences concerned with organizations management. Hence the name of our journal: INNOVAR, depicted as action and reflection. Insights about innovation are diverse, ranging from the importance of change in production techniques pointed out by Marx, to the structural vision by Schumpeter and the Neo-Schumpeterians about creative destruction as one of the drivers of capitalist development (Chang, 2016). In recent decades, innovation has been gaining an increasingly prominent role in economic and organizational processes due to the emergence and consolidation of the so-called "knowledge-based society" (Drucker, 1994; Castells, 1996; Dubina, Carayannis & Campbell, 2012).

Innovation demands the confluence of multiple factors and dimensions, such as creativity, science and technology, the interactions between University, business and society, as well as competition, the role of the State and innovation financing, among others. Precisely, the intersection between the role of the State and innovation financing has been one of the research interests of the Italian economist Mariana Mazzucato. In her book The Entrepreneurial State - Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, Mazzucato (2016) advocates for a change in the understanding of the role of the State within innovation processes. Using empirical evidence from the sectors of communications technology (exemplifying companies like Apple), renewable energies and the pharmaceutical sector, Mazzucato points out to the active and paramount role of the State in contemporary innovation, considering that states have been investors and executors of projects in the base of innovations such as the touch screen, the cps, the Internet or Siri, which were later exploited by private companies. Whether in the field of military defense, aeronautics or the energy sector, investments by the State and the resulting projects have been vital for the conception and subsequent diffusion of innovations. The characteristics of high-risk investments that can be undertaken by the State added to the way it brings together and articulates multiple capacities and institutions, constitute transmission chains that are essential for innovation.

Mazzucato's contribution is questioning a series of myths around innovation that suggest this phenomenon arises only by the activities of private entrepreneurs and investors. This perspective, now dominant, demands a downsized State focused on encouraging private forces, so that the invisible hand and competition promote the emergence of new knowledge leading to innovations. Mazzucato's book (2016) opens wide paths for research since it does not deny the relevance of companies and innovative entrepreneurs, but it calls to recognize, characterize and assess the importance of public organizations and projects in the dynamics of innovation. All of this encourages the academic research interests of INNOVAR, to which we summon Ibero-American academic community of the Management Sciences.

Our current issue is made up by four of our traditional sections: Strategy and Organizations, Marketing, Human Factor, and Business Ethics. These gather ten papers by Colombian and international partners.

Three research papers are published in Strategy and Organizations section.

As a results of an international cooperation, Professors Julio César Acosta, from Externado de Colombia University, Mónica Longo-Somoza, from the Council of Education of the Community of Madrid - Spain, and María Belén Lozano, from the University of Salamanca - Spain, introduce their work "Does Family Ownership Affect Innovation Activity? A Focus on the Biotechnological Industry". This work tried to identify the profile of innovative firms in order to analyze whether family ownership is a feature related to innovation initiatives and processes. For that purpose, a hierarchical cluster analysis is performed in a sample of 243 Spanish companies within the biotechnology sector. It is concluded from the study that innovative Spanish firms belonging to this sector are non-family-owned firms. The negative relationship between innovation and family ownership could be explained by the conservative behavior of family-owned companies, which avoid taking the risks demanded by innovation.

Professors Valentin Azofra, from the University of Valladolid - Spain, Magda Lizet Ochoa, from the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas - Mexico, and Begoha Prieto and Alicia Santidrian, from the University of Burgos - Spain, present the paper "Creating Value through the Application of Intellectual Capital Models". This research aims to link both the adoption level and the use of intellectual capital models with the creation of value in companies under a long-term perspective. Empirical work involved the selection of companies showing commitment towards the use of information systems on intellectual capital. Based on information from 79 Spanish companies a model was developed and then applied in order to relate the variables of growth in sales, productivity per employee and intellectual capital index, among others, to the adoption level and use of indicators on intellectual capital. Results show that companies with higher levels of intellectual capital models report better indexes related to aforementioned variables, which represent, in turn, greater creation of value.

Additionally, independent researcher Giuseppe Vanoni and Professor Carlos Rodriguez from the National University of Colombia authored the paper "Growth Strategies Implemented by Economic Groups in Ecuador (2007-2016)", a study intended to identify growth strategies of 132 economic groups in Ecuador during the time frame previously stated. After a complete literature review and the introduction of the conceptual notions of "economic group" and "growth strategy", empirical work shows that a specialization-based concentration strategy prevails among the studied groups. Furthermore, this work allowed concluding that Ecuadorian economic groups belong to some specific families, and that the economic stability experienced by this country over the course of the period under study had a direct influence on the concentration strategy by specialization adopted by economic groups.

Marketing section in this issue of INNOVAR introduces four papers.

Brazilian researchers Celso Ximenes and Josemeire Alves, and Professors Gabriel Aguiar, from the Faculdade Mauricio de Nassau, and Danielle Miranda de Oliveira, from the Uni-versidade Estadual do Ceará in the city of Fortaleza - Brazil, take part in this issue with the work "You Solved my Problem, but I Won't Buy from You Anymore! Why Don't Consumers Want to Go Back Doing Business in Online Stores?". This study set as its main goal to understand the motives driving online consumers not to make new purchases when experiencing troubles with purchase processes, even when inconveniences were solved. Following a qualitative approach and based on a sample of 200 complaints over four e-commerce enterprises, a descriptive focus allowed classifying the possible problems and solutions deployed by companies. Results point that consumers manifest their wish of not making further purchases with the same company due to problems with logistics as well as delays with problemsolving and handling complaints.

From the University of Seville in Spain, Professors Carlos Javier Rodríguez and Encarnación Ramos add to this current issue the paper "Influence of Religiosity and Spirituality on Consumer Ethical Behavior", whose objective is to analyze consumers' ethical behavior. For this reason, a model of structural equations relating the scales of religiosity and spirituality and contrasting the results of 286 surveys to Spanish citizens is developed. The study implied resizing the Consumer Ethics Scale based on the results found in the literature in order to fit the purposes of this work. The paper concludes by presenting evidence on the existence of a relationship between religiosity-spirituality and the ethical behavior shown by consumers.

Professors Alejandro Tapia, associated to the University Loyola Andalucía, and Elena Martín Guerra, from the University of Valladolid, both institutions in Spain, are the authors of "Neuroscience and Advertising. An Experiment on Attention and Emotion in Television Advertising". This paper presents the results of a neuroscience experiment applied to advertising, whose purpose was to study how attention and the generation of emotional responses influence the recall of w spots. The experiment was carried out in a group of 30 students aged 18-22, who were exposed to advertising spots of the University of Valladolid. Results from this exercise show important aspects influencing attention and emotion towards the spots, both positively and negatively, among them: comic content, language, loudness or negative and sad contents, and some others.

From the Center of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Guadalajara - Mexico, Professors José Sánchez, Guillermo Vázquez and Juan Mejía sign the work "Marketing and Elements Influencing the Competitiveness of Commercial Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Guadalajara, Mexico". This study seeks to state the correlation between different key marketing elements that impact micro, small and medium-sized enterprises of clothing items in Guadalajara, Mexico. Based on structural equation modelling, strategies, knowledge and planning in marketing were identified as determinants for the competitiveness of this type of companies. Empirical work used a sample of 380 companies of the retail-clothing sector. The results confirm a positive and significant correlation between key marketing factors and competitiveness, where marketing factors are decisive for companies within the sector, which have been regarded as the weakest link in Mexican economy.

Our Human Factor section gathers two studies derived from research processes.

We include the paper titled "Subjectivity and Power in Business Organizations: A Case Study", authored by Adriana Valencia Espinosa, Professor at the University of Valle -Colombia. This work was praised as one of the best lectures presented during the First International Congress on Organizations Management that was venued at the National University of Colombia. The objective of this research was to understand the impact of business organizations on the subjectivity of employees, emphasizing the implications of labor breakdown (the termination of a contract). The case study is carried out at a renowned company in Valle del Cauca - Colombia, whose core business, among other lines, is mass printing and editorial processes. This paper addresses testimonies by key participants, that is, workers who experienced labor ruptures with the company. The article also identifies some mechanisms deployed by the organization in the process of sensemaking and the creation of meaning for subjectivity mobilization.

Professors Matias Ginieis, María Victoria Sánchez and Fernando Campa from the Rovira i Virgili University, in Spain, present in this issue the paper "How much is the Staff According to the Type of Airline and its Geographical Location in Europe? A Comparative Analysis". This research study was aimed at determining the link between the costs per employee, the types of airlines (traditional or low cost) and the different geographical locations of the headquarters of the studied airlines (Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries). A total of 152 airlines were analyzed during the period 2008-2013. Based on statistical correlation tests it was possible to determine there is no relationship between the type of airline and staff-related costs.

Last but not least, our Business Ethics section presents a research paper for this issue of INNOVAR.

At the University of Zaragoza in Spain, Professors Francisco José López and Ana Bellosta contribute to this issue with the work titled "Corporate Social Responsibility and Good Corporate Governance practices in Spanish Ethical Mutual Funds: Analysis of Investee Companies". This paper studies the type of firms composing the portfolio of Spanish ethical mutual funds, characterizing such companies on the basis of the Corporate Governance model they follow, their organizational structure and some of their economic and financial variables. Different models of Corporate Governance by investee companies and their relationship with financial variables are presented and then evaluated. Results show that companies under the German corporate governance model are preferred by ethical mutual funds, followed by those companies with Anglo-Saxon corporate governance models, which means that, for allocating resources, ethical mutual funds take an interest in companies that involve different stakeholders in their governance processes.

We are sure these contributions will be of great interest for the academic community of the Social and Management Sciences both in Colombia and abroad.

Referencias bibliográficas

Castells, M. (1996). La era de la información. Economía, Sociedad y Cultura (Vol. 1, La Sociedad Red). Madrid: Alianza. [ Links ]

Chang, H. J. (2016). Economía para el 99% de la población. Bogotá: Debate. [ Links ]

Drucker, P. (1994). The Age of Social Transformation. The Atlantic Monthly, 274(5), 53-80. [ Links ]

Dubina, I., Carayannis, E., & Campbell, D. (2012). Creativity Economy and a Crisis of the Economy? Coevolution of Knowledge, Innovation, and Creativity, and of the Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Society. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 3(1), 1-24. [ Links ]

Mazzucato, M. (2016). El Estado emprendedor. Mitos del sector público frente al privado. Barcelona: rba. [ Links ]

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