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

This paper presents a model for the nature and adaptive significance of intelligence and language in early hominids based on comparative developmental, ecological, and neurological data. We propose that the common ancestor of the great apes and man displayed rudimentary forms of late sensorimotor and early preoperational intelligence similar to that of one- to four-year-old children. These abilities arose as adaptations for extractive foraging with tools, which requires a long postweaning apprenticeship. They were elaborated in the first hominids with the shift to primary dependence on this feeding strategy. These first hominids evolved a protolanguage, similar to that of two-year-old human children, with which they could describe the nature and location of food and request help in obtaining it. The descendents of the first hominids displayed intuitive intelligence, similar to that of four- to seven-year-old children, which arose as an adaptation for complex hunting involving aimed-missile throwing, stone-tool manufacture, animal butchery, food division, and shelter construction. The comparative developmental and paleontological data are consistent with the hypothesis that the stages of development of intelligence and language and their neural substrates in our species recapitulate the stages of their evolution.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0140525X0006307X

A developmental model for the evolution of language and intelligence in early hominids

Attitudes and the Prediction of Behavior

Entrepreneurial intention is a rapidly evolving field of research. A growing number of studies use entrepreneurial intention as a powerful theoretical framework. However, a substantial part of this research lacks systematization and categorization, and there seems to be a tendency to start anew with every study. Therefore, there is a need to take stock of current knowledge in this field. In this sense, this paper carries out a review of the literature on entrepreneurial intentions. A total of 409 papers addressing entrepreneurial intention, published between 2004 and 2013 (inclusive), have been analyzed. The purpose and contribution of this paper is to offer a clearer picture of the sub-fields in entrepreneurial intention research, by concentrating on two aspects. Firstly, it reviews recent research by means of a citation analysis to categorize the main areas of specialization currently attracting the attention of the academic community. Secondly, a thematic analysis is carried out to identify the specific themes being researched within each category. Despite the large number of publications and their diversity, the present study identifies five main research areas, plus an additional sixth category for a number of new research papers that cannot be easily classified into the five areas. Within those categories, up to twenty-five different themes are recognized. A number of research gaps are singled out within each of these areas of specialization, in order to induce new ways and perspectives in the entrepreneurial intention field of research that may be fruitful in filling these gaps.

A systematic literature review on entrepreneurial intentions: citation, thematic analyses, and research agenda

Rare instances of symboling and problem-solving in the archaeological record of the European Acheulian and Mousterian suggest highly evolved potentially variable hominid capacities. These are aspects of capacity not evidenced in the lithic industries and habitation site complexes, and they cannot be determined from studies of comparative morphology or genetic distance. This sparse artifactual evidence cannot be quantified and is, in fact, statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, the internal cognitive contents and complexity evident in these unique materials reveal the presence of highly evolved skills and conceptual capacities involving the evaluation and use of diverse materials and processes. They also reveal a capacity for planning and mapping or modeling the territory and culture in time and space. Significantly, the evidence for these behaviors is richer in Europe during these early periods than in other areas of late hominid presence, including the Middle East and Africa where forms of anatomically modern humans were developing. It is possible that these early European efforts represent incipient and preparatory innovations that in some measure led to the regional “creative explosion” of the following European Upper Paleolithic. It is suggested that hominization selected for certain types and classes of problem-solving and symboling capacity and that the Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans each represent progressive advances over the evolved erectus capacity and its cultural manifests. It is also suggested that these late hominid capacities ultimately and evolutionarily derive from still earlier potential and variable problem-solving and conceptual capacities comparable to those found among the great apes.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ajpa.1330320503

Evolution of the human capacity: The symbolic evidence

A microscopic examination of the engraved and carved artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic of the Russian plain in Soviet collections has revealed the presence of a number of complex symbol systems and modes of symbol use. These systems have not previously been noted or studied. The iconography has been found to be different from that in contemporaneous symbol systems in the Western European Upper Paleolithic, but the basic modes and strategies of symbol use were nevertheless comparable or similar. The data raise a number of profound questions concerning (a) the origin or origins of early Homo sapiens sapiens symbol usage and the possible early dispersal or diffusion of certain cognitive and cultural modes of symbol use, (b) the possible near-iconic nature of the earliest H. sapiens sapiens symbol systems, and (c) the relevance of these evolving systems for those symbolic traditions that persisted and developed in the post-Wurm. It seems that at least some of these systems in the Eastern and Western Upper ...

Upper Paleolithic Symbol Systems of the Russian Plain: Cognitive and Comparative Analysis [and Comments and Reply]

Zintegrowane systemy zarządzania jakością, środowiskiem i bezpieczeństwem pracy

Entrepreneurial intentions determine to a large extent the entrepreneurial behavior; therefore, the study of those intentions and the factors that influence them constitute a valid research area. The purpose of this regional comparative study was to design a new causal model of the formation of the entrepreneurial intention among young adults in Spain and Poland. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (PLS) methodology, the results show that subjective variables (beliefs, social norms, values) initiate the chain of effects that influence the action variables (motivation, self-efficacy, intention). Attitude is the nexus variable between both groups of variables. It is verified that there are no significant differences in the responses to the items or in the causal relationships of the model between both countries. This confirms the relevance of a homogenizing generational approach at a global level that allows the application of policies to promote the entrepreneurial intention for the entire segment. The proposed model takes into account and complements the previous designs, and is practical because it can be used at different levels of the education sector and by institutions promoting entrepreneurship and sustainability.

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/6993/pdf

Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Intention among Young People: Model and Regional Evidence

Quality Management System according to ISO 9000 series standards have been used in organizations for over 25 years. At this time, these standards have gained immense popularity and make the language of business around the world easier. Since its inception, ISO 9001 standard has been amended several times. This means that the standard has evolved to adapt to new market requirements and changing trends in management. Last update of 2008 was not revolutionary, as was the case in 2000. The need for substantive changes in the standard was so strong and noticeable that already in 2012 the first steps were taken in the direction of changes in the standard. The main aim of those changes was to integrate ISO 9001 with other management systems and to complete the requirements of the relevant issues that relate to the management of a modern organization. The purpose of this article is to identify the goals and the content of the planned changes in ISO 9001:2015, as well as a discussion on the need for the amendment and its impact on the management of an organization.

/pdf/ewolucja-czy-rewolucja-zmiany-w-standardzie-iso-9001-2015-2kqzt7ef08.pdf

Ewolucja czy rewolucja? Zmiany w standardzie ISO 9001:2015

Abstract This article analyses the influence of personal variables on entrepreneurial intentions of students from Poland and Spain. The article presents an integrated structural model that has been developed from a set of student perceptions from both countries. A small number of variables included in the model allows explaining and managing the formation of the intention in the context of higher education. This study provides answers to the following questions: What role do personal variables play as motivation in the formation of entrepreneurship in the case of young people? Is the motivation stronger than self-efficacy? What are the differences in the perceptions and ratings of students in Poland and Spain? How can these variables be enhanced? This work used a causal quantitative methodology based on structural equations (PLS) and the Smart PLS-3.0 program. The PLS model was chosen for its advantages in the study of human behaviour and its optimal predictive potential, and because it allows the use of reflective indicators. In the causal model generated with a sample of 721 respondents from Poland and Spain, it was found that personal values initiated the chain of effects that influenced the attitude and, through it, successively resulted in motivation, self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. Therefore, the subjective variables (values and attitudes) have a positive and significant influence on the action variables (motivation and self-efficacy), and these affect entrepreneurial intentions. The absence of significant regional differences in the responses to the items and the causal relationships of the model suggests the possibility of developing integrated and homogeneous programmes for the entire segment, thereby achieving synergies. The results suppose a theoretical and practical contribution to the promotion of entrepreneur intentions of university students inside and outside the educational context, suggesting a possible effect of personal variables on entrepreneurial intentions.

/pdf/influence-of-personal-variables-on-entrepreneurial-intention-22cfyavgyk.pdf

Urszula Kobylińska

Papers

Upper Paleolithic Symbol Systems of the Russian Plain: Cognitive and Comparative Analysis [and Comments and Reply]

Zintegrowane systemy zarządzania jakością, środowiskiem i bezpieczeństwem pracy

Antecedents of Entrepreneurial Intention among Young People: Model and Regional Evidence

Ewolucja czy rewolucja? Zmiany w standardzie ISO 9001:2015

Influence of personal variables on entrepreneurial intention: A comparative study between Poland and Spain