Innovativeness: a Conceptual Framework Antecedents, Dimensions, & Outcomes (RIKON Group)
Innovativeness: a Conceptual Framework Antecedents, Dimensions, & Outcomes (RIKON Group)
Walsh, Margaret and Lynch, Dr. Patrick and Harrington, Dr. Denis (2009) INNOVATIVENESS: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
ANTECEDENTS, DIMENSIONS, & OUTCOMES (RIKON Group). In: EuroCHRie, 22 - 24th October, 2009, Helsinki.
Drawing from work found in the organisational, tourism services, and consumer innovation literatures over the past 40 years, this paper develops a conceptual framework of innovativeness. It delineates innovativeness as a multidimensional construct; exploring its key antecedents, dimensions, and outcomes. To date, little significant international research activity on innovativeness within the SME, and in particular within the small tourism firm, has emerged from the extant literature. Moreover, the current literature appears to lack clarity in meaning, often confusing ‘innovativeness’ with ‘innovation’. Thus, this paper offers a new conceptualisation of firm-level innovativeness, distinguishing it from actual innovations themselves. In this paper, innovativeness is conceptualised as a particular form of organisational mindset and a specific set of capabilities that drive innovation activity. Key Words: innovativeness; antecedents; dimensions; outcomes; tourism innovation; conceptualisation