Research

CPA Innovation Centre

Overview

Research

Events

CPA Innovation Centre

The Centre’s research mandate is to generate and disseminate new knowledge on the study of innovation and to make available learning opportunities to organizational leaders and managers in partnership with the CPA.

Initially the research will be based on and evolve from the significant research expertise already in the Beedie School of Business. The Centre’s longer-term research mandate includes the development of relevant applied and basic research agendas that will be developed in consultation and collaboration with CPA Canada.

Supported Research

The CPA Innovation Centre is currently supporting research into the following projects.

University Research Parks
Many technology-based firms begin in university research parks, and there is a generally held belief among scholars, policy makers, and industry and university leaders that these parks, — by providing appropriate infrastructure, business support and research collaborations — facilitate and enhance the survival and growth of their technology-based firms. However, existing research on the role of parks is mixed, and scholars have called for studies to re-explore how and why parks differ in terms of environmental context, strategies, and in particular practices.Focusing on Canadian, U.S. and U.K. university research parks, this study led by Drs. Ian McCarthy and Tom Lawrenceaims to improve our understanding of how parks vary in terms of their context, strategies and practices; and how these differences affect the performance of their resident technology-based firms. This is a highly significant issue for Canada and its universities, for in August 2007, Canada’s Prime Minister announced the creation of the Canadian Association of University Research Parks (AURP Canada) as an initiative in support of Canada’s quest to become a world leader in the development and commercialization of science and technology.By focusing on how the operations of university research parks vary, this project will provide important case study insights and empirically developed knowledge that will help understand and enhance the development and operations of Canadian university research parks and their firms. The specific research objectives are:
- to develop a typology that explains how variations in a parks’ context and strategy give rise todifferent operational configurations in terms of park management practice
- to conduct twelve case studies to validate the typology and identify park management practices for each of the identified park configurations
- to conduct an event history analysis that explores how different configurations influence park performance (e.g., growth, entry and exit of park firms) and tenant firm performance (e.g., productivity, growth and successful exit).
Innovation in Public Health
Research in the field of addictions has traditionally been dominated by a focus on medical, biological, epidemiological, psychological and sociological issues, providing significant insight into the causes and effects of drug addiction, the efficacy of treatment strategies, and the structure and culture of addict communities. Overlooked in much addictions research is the importance of organizations and interorganizational relationships in addressing the social and economic impacts of drug addiction. This oversight is common not only to addictions research but to the field of healthcare more generally.This study led by Tom Lawrence, supported by Graham Dover, is intended to help remedy this oversight in addictions research by examining the role of organizations and interorganizational relationships in the field of drug addiction in British Columbia – the emergence of harm reduction strategies in Vancouver and Victoria, and particularly the creation of supervised injection sites (SIS) for intravenous drug users. The project proposed here is part of a multi-year research program examining the social and political processes associated with the creation and diffusion of the SIS as an innovation. The focus of this specific research project is to examine the role of “connector organizations” – organizations the purpose of which is to connect a large number of diverse constituents in order to achieve some common purpose – in the establishment and diffusion of SIS facilities.The first government-sanctioned supervised injection site (SIS) was established in Vancouver in 2003, as a 3 year trial by the federal and provincial governments. The establishment of similar sites is currently on the public agenda in a number of Canadian cities, with Victoria being the furthest along the path toward opening such a site. This situation presents a valuable opportunity to gain insight into the creation and institutionalization of a controversial new practice in the field of drug addiction.”Keeping the Door Open” (KDO) is a connector organization formed in Vancouver as a multi-stakeholder coalition representing a diverse range of groups, institutions and individuals; it had a significant, and as yet undocumented, role in the opening of the Vancouver SIS. Currently, a second KDO organization is being formed in Victoria with a similar structure and set of aims. The research project proposed here would involve a comparative case study of the two organizations, their histories and networks, strategies used, and effects they have had, or are having, on the opening of SIS facilities in their respective cities.Thus, the two primary objectives of this research program are:(1) document the social, political and cultural practices of the Vancouver and Victoria KDO organizations in their attempts to facilitate the establishment of a SIS;(2) develop a theoretical model of the processes through which connector organizations facilitate innovations in the field of drug addiction.

Recent Publications

Some of the recent publications of CPA Innovation Centre Fellows and Scholars include:

Articles in Refereed Journals

Thomas, V. J., & Maine, E. (2019). Impact of regional systems of innovation on the formation of university spin-offs by biomedical star scientists. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 37(2), 271-287. http://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2...

Shum, V., Park, A., Maine, E., & Pitt, L. F. (2019). A Bibliometric Study of Research-Technology Management, 1998-2017. Research-Technology Management, 62(1), 34-43. http://doi.org/10.1080/0895630...

Maine, E. (2018). Initiatives aimed at unleashing more innovation at universities. Business in Vancouver, 20-20.

Fabris, J., Roughley, D., Poursartip, A., & Maine, E. (2017). Managing the technological and market uncertainty of composites innovation: A case study of composites manufacturers in Western Canada and interventions by a translational research centre. Translational Materials Research, 4(4), 1-19. http://doi.org/10.1088/2053-16...

Maine, E., & Thomas, J. J. (2017). Raising financing through strategic timing. Nature Nanotechnology, 12(2), 93-98. http://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2...

Maine, E., & Seegopaul, P. (2016). Accelerating advanced-materials commercialization. Nature Materials, 15(5), 487-491. http://doi.org/10.1038/nmat462...

Maine, E., Soh, P., & Dos Santos, N. (2015). The role of entrepreneurial decision-making in opportunity creation and recognition. Technovation, 39-40, 53-72. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.techn...

McCarthy, Ian P., David Hannah, Leyland F. Pitt, and Jane M. McCarthy. "Confronting indifference toward truth: Dealing with workplace bullshit." Business Horizons (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bush...

Robertson, J., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2019). Leveraging social capital in university-industry knowledge transfer strategies: a comparative positioning framework. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 1-12. http://doi.org/10.1080/1477823...

Baccarella, C. V., Wagner, T. F., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2018). Social media? It's serious! Understanding the dark side of social media. European Management Journal, 36(4), 431-438. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2...

McCarthy, I. P., Silvestre, B., Von Nordenflycht, A. G., & Breznitz, S. (2018). A typology of university research park strategies: What parks do and why it matters? Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 47, 110-122. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengt...

McCarthy, I. P., Collard, M., & Johnson, M. R. (2017). Adaptive organizational resilience: an evolutionary perspective. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 28, 33-40. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosus...

Ruckman, K. E., & McCarthy, I. P. (2017). Licensing speed: Its determinants and payoffs. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 46, 52-66. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengt...

Ruckman, K. E., & McCarthy, I. P. (2017). Why do some patents get licensed while others do not? Industrial and Corporate Change, 26(4), 667-688. http://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtw...

Bogers, M., Zobel, A., Afuah, A., Almirall, E., Brunswicker, S., Dahlander, L., ... Wal, A. l. (2017). The open innovation research landscape: established perspectives and emerging themes across different levels of analysis. Industry and Innovation, 24(1), 8-40. http://doi.org/10.1080/1366271...

de Beer, J., McCarthy, I. P., Soliman, A., & Treen, E. R. (2016). Click here to agree: Managing intellectual property when crowdsourcing solutions. Business Horizons, 60(2), 207 - 217. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Bliemel, M., McCarthy, I. P., & Maine, E. (2016). Levels of multiplexity in entrepreneur's networks: Implications for dynamism and value creation. Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 6(3), 247-272. http://doi.org/10.1515/erj-201...

Xie, Z., Hall, J. K., McCarthy, I. P., Skitmore, M., & Shen, L. (2016). Standardization efforts: The relationship between knowledge dimensions, search processes and innovation outcomes. Technovation, 48-49, 69-78. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.techn...

Hannah, D. R., McCarthy, I. P., & Kietzmann, J. H. (2015). We're leaking, and everything's fine: How and why companies deliberately leak secrets. Business Horizons, 58(6), 659-667. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Robson, K. E., Plangger, K. A., Kietzmann, J. H., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2015). Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification. Business Horizons, 59(1), 29-36. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Bogers, M., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2015). Leveraging users as innovators: Managing the creative potential of individual consumers. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 37, 3-5. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jengt...

Berthon, P. R., Pitt, L. F., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2015). CGIP: Managing consumer-generated intellectual property. California Management Review, 57(4), 43-62. http://doi.org/10.1525/cmr.201...

Robson, K. E., Plangger, K. A., Kietzmann, J. H., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2015). Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamification. Business Horizons, 58(4), 411-420. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Prpic, J., Shukla, P., Kietzmann, J. H., & McCarthy, I. P. (2015). How to work a crowd: Developing crowd capital through crowdsourcing. Business Horizons, 58(1), 77-85. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Flostrand, A. D., Pitt, L. F., & Bridson, S. (2020). The Delphi technique in forecasting- A 42-year bibliographic analysis (1975-2017). Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 150, 119773. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.techf...

Berthon, P., Pitt, L. F., & Campbell, C. (2019). Addictive De-Vices: A Public Policy Analysis of Sources and Solutions to Digital Addiction. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 38(4), 451-468. http://doi.org/10.1177/0743915...

Ferreira, C. C., Lord Ferguson, S. T., & Pitt, L. F. (2019). Entrepreneurial marketing and hybrid entrepreneurship: the case of JM Reid Bamboo Rods. Journal of Marketing Management, 35(9-10), 867-885. http://doi.org/10.1080/0267257...

Treen, E. R., Pitt, L. F., Bredican, J., & Farshid, M. (2017). App service: How do consumers perceive the quality of financial service apps on smart devices? Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 22(3), 119-125. http://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-...

Brown, T., Boon, E., & Pitt, L. F. (2017). Seeking funding in order to sell: Crowdfunding as a marketing tool. Business Horizons, 60(2), 189-195. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.busho...

Hall, J., Matos, S. and Bachor, V., 2016. The need for, and challenges of, interdisciplinary research in technology and innovation management. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 100(39), pp.v-vi.

Bertels, S., Howard-Grenville, J., & Pek, S. M. (2016). Cultural molding, shielding and shoring at Oilco: The role of culture in the integration of routines. Organization Science, 27(3), 573-593. http://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.20...

Bertels, S., & Lawrence, T. B. (2016). Organizational responses to institutional complexity stemming from emerging logics: The role of individuals. Strategic Organization, 1-37. http://doi.org/10.1177/1476127...

Eapen, A., & Krishnan, R. (2019). Transferring Tacit Know-How: Do Opportunism Safeguards Matter for Firm Boundary Decisions? Organization Science, 30(4), 715-734. http://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.20...

Research Videos

The CPA Innovation Centre offers a selection of videos featuring talks by innovation thought leaders from academia and industry: