This handbook looks to provide academics and students with a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the phenomenon of innovation. Innovation spans a number of fields within the social sciences and humanities: Management, Economics, Geography, Sociology, Politics, Psychology, and History. Consequently, the rapidly increasing body of literature on innovation is characterized by a multitude of perspectives based on, or cutting across, existing disciplines and specializations. Scholars of innovation can come from such diverse starting points that much of this literature can be missed, and so constructive dialogues missed. The editors of The Oxford Handbook of Innovation have carefully selected and designed twenty-one contributions from leading academic experts within their particular field, each focusing on a specific aspect of innovation. These have been organized into four main sections, the first of which looks at the creation of innovations, with particular focus on firms and networks. Section Two provides an account of the wider systematic setting influencing innovation and the role of institutions and organizations in this context. Section Three explores some of the diversity in the working of innovation over time and across different sectors of the economy, and Section Four focuses on the consequences of innovation with respect to economic growth, international competitiveness, and employment. An introductory overview, concluding remarks, and guide to further reading for each chapter, make this handbook a key introduction and vital reference work for researchers, academics, and advanced students of innovation. Contributors to this volume - Jan Fagerberg, University of Oslo William Lazonick, INSEAD Walter W. Powell, Stanford University Keith Pavitt, SPRU Alice Lam, Brunel University Keith Smith, INTECH Charles Edquist, Linkoping David Mowery, University of California, Berkeley Mary O'Sullivan, INSEAD Ove Granstrand, Chalmers Bjorn Asheim, University of Lund Rajneesh Narula, Copenhagen Business School Antonello Zanfei, Urbino Kristine Bruland, University of Oslo Franco Malerba, University of Bocconi Nick Von Tunzelmann, SPRU Ian Miles, University of Manchester Bronwyn Hall, University of California, Berkeley Bart Verspagen , ECIS Francisco Louca, ISEG Manuel M. Godinho, ISEG Richard R. Nelson, Mario Pianta, Urbino Bengt-Ake Lundvall, Aalborg

The Oxford Handbook of Innovation

Retail Management–A Strategic Approach

The important influence of e-service quality (e-SQ) on customer satisfaction and loyalty has been demonstrated in many contexts, but has not been examined in telecom settings yet. The current study aimed to construct a measurement scale for e-SQ in telecom settings, as well as to investigate the relationship between e-SQ, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. In this study, we analyzed self-reports from 9249 respondents (74.55% were male) between the ages of 19 and 45. A scale consisting of five user experinece dimensions (functional completeness, performance, interface and interaction quality, content and information, support or service) was developed to measure e-SQ in the telecom industry. The scale was proven reliable and valid. The analysis confirmed a positive relationship between e-SQ, customer satisfaction and loyalty. In addition, e-SQ was found to be a core predictor of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Moreover, customer satisfaction emerged as the strongest predictor of customer loyalty.

Measuring e-service quality and its importance to customer satisfaction and loyalty: an empirical study in a telecom setting

The drivers of industry 4.0 in a circular economy: The palm oil industry in Malaysia

Waste-to-Energy Supply Chain Management on Circular Economy Capability: An Empirical Study

Most of the previously published bibliometric studies on circular economy (CE) have only focused on one specific region or on a specific CE-related application. This study addresses this gap by con...

Mapping the first decade of circular economy research: a bibliometric network analysis

Architecture, by its very nature is about creativity, not only in design but in all its forms, and therefore it is safe to assert that creativity and innovation are at the root of architectural design practices. This empirical research examines the factors that affect organizational creativity in architectural firms in Saudi Arabia in the context of Amabile’s componential theory. The research sample consisted of 210 professionals from five architectural firms operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses. The research findings suggest that management practices, which permit autonomy, risk-taking, rewards for creativity and innovation, have the greatest impact on organizational creativity, briefly defined as the creation of a valuable new product. Furthermore, it can be surmised that other elements of Amabile’s componential theory including lack of organizational impediments, sufficient resources, realistic workload pressure, freedom, challenging work, management encouragement, and work group support have a significant impact on organizational creativity. The study also indicated that organizational encouragement has no significant causal connection with organizational motivation and therefore organizational creativity. The results extend the knowledge and understanding of the factors that affect creativity in exclusively creative environments. In addition, the implications for managerial practices and executive decision-making are explored.

Keywords: Organizational Creativity, Management Practices, Organizational Motivation, Amabile’s Componential Theory, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

To cite this document: Ahmed Rashad ElMelegy, Qadir Mohiuddin, Jess Boronico, and Ahmed A. Maasher, "Fostering Creativity in Creative Environments: An Empirical Study of Saudi Architectural Firms", Contemporary Management Research, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 89-120, 2016.

Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/cmr.14431

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Fostering Creativity in Creative Environments: An Empirical Study of Saudi Architectural Firms

This paper measures the readiness of the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries to implement the lean system through an evaluation of their existing quality practices, and compare such readiness among different product sectors and ownership types. The study adopts the measurement framework developed by Al-Najem et al. (2013), which establishes six constructs related to lean quality practices, namely: process, planning and control, customer relations, suppliers relations, HR, and top management and leadership. Data were collected from a survey of 50 Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing companies. One research question and two hypotheses were developed and tested using t-test and Levene's test, descriptive statistics, and one-way ANOVA. The results demonstrate that the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries are far from being ready to implement lean. In addition, the study found that product sector and ownership type have no significant impact on the lean readiness in the Kuwaiti small and medium sized manufacturing industries.

Measuring the lean readiness of Kuwaiti manufacturing industries

The oversaturation in the telecommunication market in Bahrain suggests reshaping of the competition to be solely based on innovation, cost and flexibility. E-Services can be used by as a competitive edge to reduce costs and increase service rate. This research investigates the factors influencing customers' intention to use e-services in the Telecommunication sector in Bahrain. It extends on the researches that combine the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and trust (TR) by examining the effect of a proper regulatory environment (RGE) on users' intention to adopt and use e-services (ITU). The study findings show that perceived usefulness (PU) has a significant impact on perceived ease of use (PEOU), but not on ITU. Moreover, PEOU and RGE are major determinants of ITU while TR has no significant effect on both ITU and PEOU. The research results yield useful insights for the marketing and development strategies of service providers. This research also contributes to the on-going multi-cultural research on the adoption of e-services.INTRODUCTIONE-Services are defined as "Deeds, efforts or performances whose delivery is mediated by information technology. Such e-services include the service element of e-retailing, customer support, and service delivery" (Rowley, 2006); or simply services that are offered, provided and/or consumed through the Internet. Adoption is defined here as "the decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of action available" (Rogers, 1995, p. 21). E-Services adoption is different than conducting basic e-commerce purchases in terms of complexity and long-term relationship between the consumer and service providers (Featherman and Pavlou, 2003).The telecommunications market in Bahrain is experiencing an oversaturation stage with 1.7 million obile subscribers by the end of 2011, a penetration rate of 133%, according to the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority report (Sambidge, 2012). This provides little opportunity for service providers who are struggling under financial pressures to compete based on price. Accordingly, Bahrain's service providers have to explore new competitive challenges like e-services that can improve efficiency, enhance flexibility, cut operational expenses and strengthen customer relations and satisfaction (Ruyter et al., 2001).According to the B2C e-commerce overview by the Gulf Cooperation Council (IMRG International, 2011), e-commerce and e-services adoption and use are still in their early stages in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. This is because of barriers like payment security, delivery options, satisfaction, and legal aspects; and offenses like unauthorized access, interference or unauthorized interception of data, and fraud. Bahrain, similar to many developing countries, is slow and far behind in terms of a proper regulatory environment and a legal framework that protect online transactions.Adoption and use of e-services depend on many factors like perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), concerns of inherent risk (Hoffman et al, 1995), trust (TR) (Lee, 2009), and regulatory environment (RGE) (Zhu et al. , 2006). Those factors have been proven to be major inhibitors to adoption and are of great concern for many potential adopters. ?-Services, e-commerce, and e-government adoption have been studied in numerous research in various countries (Anderson & Srinivasan, 2003; Gefen et el., 2003; Pavlou, 2003; Flavia'n & Guinaly'u, 2006; Cyr, 2008; Kim et al., 2009). As for the Gulf region and Arab countries, few researchers have examined the antecedents of e-commerce and e-government adoption and found that they are still limited (Kassim & Ismail, 2009; Said & Galaleldeen, 2009; Alawadi & Morris, 2008; Alshehri & Drew, 2010; Al-Solbi & Al-Harbi, 2008).Given the tremendous rise in e-services adoption in developed countries, e-services rate of adoption is still stagnant in many developing countries and requires further investigations. …

Management of E-Services Adoption in the Telecommunications Sector in Bahrain

Retail format hypermarkets are emerging in numbers and contributing $2.5 billion a year to the economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Despite their importance and to the best of the authors' kn...

Ahmed R. Elmelegy

Papers

Mapping the first decade of circular economy research: a bibliometric network analysis

Fostering Creativity in Creative Environments: An Empirical Study of Saudi Architectural Firms

Measuring the lean readiness of Kuwaiti manufacturing industries

Management of E-Services Adoption in the Telecommunications Sector in Bahrain

Antecedents of Hypermarket Service Quality in the United Arab Emirates