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Transport and logistics services (TLS) are key components of a successful economy, enabling the movement of goods, services and people as efficiently as possible. In the European Union, the transport sector generates 7% of European Union gross domestic product (GDP) and for around 5% of employment. Nevertheless, the challenge is to find solutions for freight and passengers that are economically viable and that also promote sustainable growth, fuel economy, the reduction of emissions, safe and healthy lifestyles and social inclusion

Knowledge is considered to be an economic driver in today's economy. It has become a commodity, a resource that can be packed and transferred. The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the scope, trends and major actors (firms, organizations, government, consultants, academia, etc.) in the development and use of methods to manage innovation in a knowledge-driven economy. The paper identifies the main innovation management techniques (IMTs) aiming at the improvement of firm competitiveness by means of knowledge management. It will specifically focus on those IMTs for which knowledge is a relevant part of the innovation process. The research study, based on a survey at the European level, concludes that a knowledge-driven economy affects the innovation process and approach. The traditional idea that innovation is based on research (technology-push theory) and interaction between firms and other actors has been replaced by the current social network theory of innovation, where knowledge plays a crucial role in fostering innovation. Simultaneously, organizations in both public and private sectors have launched initiatives to develop methodologies and tools to support business innovation management. Higher education establishments, business schools and consulting companies are developing innovative and adequate methodologies and tools, while public authorities are designing and setting up education and training schemes aimed at disseminating best practices among all kinds of businesses

Technology transfer has been defined as goal-orientated intentional interaction between two or more social entities during which the stock of technological knowledge remains stable or is increased through the transfer of one or more components of the technology. One of the recognised problems in the innovation and technology management in Spain is related to the transfer of technology and knowledge between university and industry. The challenges faced by public innovation policies are correlated to an improvement in the transfer of knowledge and technology from universities and research centres to industry; hence the fact that some European authors have emphasised the need to provide this activity with more visibility and prestige, being this one of the new directions of national and European Union technology policies. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the underlying factors in the technology transfer process from universities to industry dealing with robotics and production technologies. It aims to provide answers to a number of questions related to success facilitating factors and barriers which hinder the transfer of technology and its ultimate impact on industry. Furthermore, the paper seeks to construct a model which will explain the differences between both transfer processes: those taking place in either an industry or a university context. The methodology for this research is based on a survey carried out on a sample of public research organisations (universities and R&D centres) and firms participating in two types of projects. The first group corresponds to R&D projects funded by the Interministerial Science and Technology Commission of Spain. These projects were coordinated by universities, with the participation of firms and R&D centres. Second group was composed of projects funded by the Centre for Industrial Technology Development (CDTI). These projects were coordinated by firms, with the participation of universities and R&D centres. The survey, ...

[EN] : Innovation is a process that faces several market failure situations. For this reason and for being considered one of the main drivers of economic growth, a large number of governmental and supranational policies are designed to foster technological progress. Along with these policies, there is an increasing concern with their continuous evaluation aiming at providing valuable feedback for these program's adaptation and adequacy to the firm's needs. The paper develops an evaluation of the influence of innovation-focused programs in firm´s innovation and economic performance by means of a comparative analysis of the results obtained by Spanish firms that have participated in R&D national programmes and those achieved by Spanish firms participating in EUREKA international program. Findings show that the programmes were effective in achieving their objective of promoting technological innovation but, as regards the economic effects, the results were less conclusive since some differences were observed depending on the programme. The EUREKA companies displayed better behaviour, with positive differences in their returns on assets and labour productivity. The results also confirm the importance of designing more detailed and rigorous evaluation processes, taking into account the risk variable, in order to draw a more realistic picture of the impact of national and international programmes ; [ES] El objetivo de este artículo es contribuir al conocimiento del impacto que tiene en las empresas su participación en programas públicos de apoyo a la innovación tecnológica, introduciendo como importante novedad el análisis comparado de los resultados obtenidos por las empresas españolas que han participado en programas de I+D de ámbito nacional (proyectos empresariales de I+D gestionados por el CDTI) frente a las que lo han hecho en programas internacionales (programa EUREKA). Los resultados muestran que ambos programas son eficaces en el logro de su objetivo de promover la innovación tecnológica, pero, en cuanto ...

Innovation is a process that faces several market failure situations. For this reason and for being considered one of the main drivers of economic growth, a large number of governmental and supranational policies are designed to foster technological progress. Along with these policies, there is an increasing concern with their continuous evaluation aiming at providing valuable feedback for these program?s adaptation and adequacy to the firm?s needs. The paper develops an evaluation of the influence of innovation-focused programs in firm¿s innovation and economic performance by means of a comparative analysis of the results obtained by Spanish firms that have participated in R&D national programmes and those achieved by Spanish firms participating in EUREKA international program. Findings show that the programmes were effective in achieving their objective of promoting technological innovation but, as regards the economic effects, the results were less conclusive since some differences were observed depending on the programme. The EUREKA companies displayed better behaviour, with positive differences in their returns on assets and labour productivity. The results also confirm the importance of designing more detailed and rigorous evaluation processes, taking into account the risk variable, in order to draw a more realistic picture of the impact of national and international programmes.

AbstractInnovation is not just an economic and or technological tool; it is also a social phenomenon. This paper draws together the concepts of creating shared value, the stakeholder theory, and socially oriented innovation to research companies' decisions on asserting socially related objectives when innovating. We examine the extent to which this decision process is bounded by constraints related to information and the characteristics of innovation. To perform this study we used a dataset that monitors the innovation activities of companies. This study offers an empirical analysis of the influence on firms' social innovation orientation. The empirical analysis supports the theoretical framework and identifies the firm's community links as key factors in developing new innovations, process and product‐oriented, which have an impact on the social‐innovation orientation of the firm. Additionally, it shows how the setting up of social goals when innovating is affected by the information source and the innovation mode being developed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

IJTM aims to provide a refereed and authoritative source of information in the field of managing with technology, and the management of engineering, science and technology. It seeks to establish channels of communication between government departments, technology executives in industry, commerce and related business, and academic experts in the field. ; SME innovation strategy and motivation has become one of the most challenging subjects of innovation policy. New innovation models proposed recently have captured the attention of policy makers. However, these models seem for the most part to be applicable to medium-sized or large enterprises. The objective of this paper is to analyse the open innovation model in the case of outsourced cooperative R&D in SMEs. Although the driving forces for outsourcing innovation in SMEs are in some respects similar to those for large firms, others are linked to lack of resources, but both have in common the pursuit of efficiency in R&D and technology transfer. This paper is based on an empirical study of open innovation in SMEs and proposes a model for analysing the critical elements which influence performance and strategic alignment between R&D performers and their partners (in most cases, SMEs). ; This paper has been partially supported by ECO 2010:17318 (MICINN). ; Albors Garrigós, J.; Zabaleta Etxebarria, N.; Hervás Oliver, JL.; Ganzarain Epelde, J. (2011). Outsourced inovation in SMES: a field study of R&D units in Spain. International Journal of Technology Management. 55(1/2):138-155. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2011.041684 ; S ; 138 ; 155 ; 55 ; 1/2