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Researchers have recognized the unique characteristics of innovation in the food industry since at least the early 1980s (Ettlie 1983). Since this time much research has shed light on our understanding. Significant amongst these findings is the recognition that in low and medium technology (LMT) intensive industries the traditional science and technology model of innovation is not applicable and cannot explain continued product and process innovations (see Bush, 1945; Maclaurin, 1953; Arrow, 1968; Pavitt, 2001; Fitjar and Rodriguez-Pose, 2013). Further, in the classic article by Pavitt (1984: 343–373) he spelt out, in his typology of firms, that 'LMT industries are characterised by process, organisational and marketing innovations, by weak internal innovation capabilities and by strong dependencies on the external provision of machines, equipment and software'. LMT sectors are central to economic growth. Whether measured in terms of output, capital invested or employment, they dominate the economies of highly developed as well as developing nations, providing more than ninety percent of output in the European Union, the USA and Japan. Given this dominant position within modern industrialised economies attempting to better understand the nature of innovation within this sector is of concern to policy makers and industrialists.

AbstractThe importance of involving citizens in the early stages of public sector innovation and bottom‐up governance arrangements for collaboration has been proposed in a number of theoretical papers. However, to date, few empirical studies are evident in the literature. To deepen our understanding of collaborative public sector innovation, our exploratory article analyses: (i) the actors of collaboration, (ii) collaboration across the innovation stages, (iii) the perceived aspects of collaboration for innovative outcomes, and (iv) the governance of collaboration. Our analysis covers 99 innovations from Italy, Japan, and Turkey. We reveal that collaboration still largely occurs within the bureaucracy of public sector organizations. Attempts to include civic and private sectors are evident, depending on the country context. Further, we uncover that a mutual understanding and shared goals are crucial for success, which is accomplished through top‐down governance as opposed to self‐governed bottom‐up networks.

Poverty is an important determinant of ill health, mortality and suffering across the globe. This commentary asks what we can learn about poverty by looking at the way rich countries respond to the needs of vulnerable populations both within their own societies and those of low-income countries. Taking advantage of recent efforts to redefine child poverty in a way that is consistent with the World Health Organization's Commission on Social Determinants of Health, three sets of data are reviewed: levels of child well-being within 23 Organization of Economic Community Development countries; the amount of official development assistance these countries disburse to poor countries; and, government social transfers targeted at families as a percentage of GDP. Analysis shows that countries in Northern Europe tend to have lower levels of child poverty, and are the most generous with social transfers and providing development assistance to poor countries; in contrast, the non-European countries like Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States, and generally, the G7 countries, are the least generous towards the vulnerable at home and abroad and tend to have the highest levels of child poverty. The findings suggest that nations' responses tend to be ideologically based rather than evidence or needs based and that poverty is neither inevitable nor intractable.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of effectuation when used by small suppliers within key account management (KAM) relationships.


Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory longitudinal case study approach was used to examine a single small supplier operating in the snack foods sector of the UK foods industry, as it entered into a new KAM relationship with a major retailer and undertook four new product development projects.


Findings
Findings suggest effectuation may positively moderate the ability of a small supplier to enter into a KAM relationship by enabling it to obtain resources and limit risk. However, once within the relationship, the use of effectuation may negatively impact success by increasing the potential for failure to co-create new product development, leading to sub-optimal products, impacting buyer confidence and trust. Furthermore, a failed KAM relationship may impact other customers through attempts to recover revenues by selling these products, which may promote short-term success but, in the long-term, lead to cascading sales failure.


Research limitations/implications
It cannot be claimed that the findings of just one case study represent all small suppliers or KAM relationships. Furthermore, the case presented specifically concerns buyer-supplier relationships within the food sector.


Practical implications
This study appears to suggest caution be exercised when applying effectuation to enter into a KAM relationship, as reliance on effectual means to garner required resources may lead to the production of sub-optimal products, which are rejected by the customer. Additionally, a large customer considering entering into a KAM relationship with a small supplier should take care to ensure their chosen partner has all resources needed to successfully deliver as required or be prepared to provide sufficient support to avoid the production of sub-optimal products.


Originality/value
Findings suggest the use of effectuation within a KAM relationship has the potential to develop a dark side within business-to-business buyer-supplier relationships through unintentional breaches of trust by the selling party.

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to compare the focus (strategy, capacity, and operation) and locus (internal and external) of innovation types of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)‐oriented public sector innovation (PSI) in Thailand and Korea and to contribute to the limited understanding of the role of national context in PSI. Our study analysed 263 SDGs‐oriented innovations based on the new typology proposed by Chen et al. The findings identified that the orientation of SDGs‐oriented PSI is more external and policy innovation is the most common type in both countries. These distributions, however, vary depending on the contextual differences in administrative and technological contexts, resulting in SDGs‐oriented PSI in Korea emphasised on strategy focus, whereas Thailand emphasised capacity focus. This also demonstrates a temporality between strategy, capacity, and operations foci in Korea, but Thailand attempted to fill the capacity gap through SDGs‐oriented innovation. Insights from this empirical study can assist public managers in selecting innovation portfolio configurations applicable to their national context.Points for practitioners
In executing public sector innovation, public sector organisations (PSOs) should consider the innovation focus (strategy, capacity, and operation) and the innovation locus (internal and external).
For SDGs‐oriented innovation, mission and policy innovation should introduce the necessary strategies in the public services before capacity and operation focus.
Public managers and practitioners should adopt an innovation portfolio approach to develop and introduce a variety of innovation types.
Public managers should consider their national context to select the configuration of their innovation portfolios.