What Drives Innovation in Firms Across Nations? A Culture of Innovation

51 Pages Posted: 7 Feb 2007 Last revised: 24 Jan 2010

See all articles by Gerard J. Tellis

Gerard J. Tellis

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business, Department of Marketing

Jaideep Prabhu

University of Cambridge - Judge Business School; Imperial College Business School

Rajesh K. Chandy

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management

Date Written: February 1, 2007

Abstract

Radical innovation is an important driver of the growth, success, and wealth of firms and nations. Because of its importance, authors in a variety of disciplines and time periods have addressed this topic. They have proposed many hypotheses about the drivers of innovation in firms across nations, including factors such as religion, geography, number of scientists and engineers, country culture, intellectual property protection, patents, R&D, and firm culture. The authors test these hypotheses using survey and archival data across 759 firms drawn from 17 major world economies. Results contradict many prior assertions about the appropriate metric for innovation and the drivers of innovation.

Results show that: 1) Commercialization of radical innovations has an important impact on a firm's financial performance and as such is a more valid measure of innovation than patents. 2) The internal culture of a firm is the strongest driver of radical innovations. Its impact exceeds that of all other factors proposed in the literature.

Keywords: innovation

Suggested Citation

Tellis, Gerard J. and Prabhu, Jaideep and Prabhu, Jaideep and Chandy, Rajesh K., What Drives Innovation in Firms Across Nations? A Culture of Innovation (February 1, 2007). Journal of Marketing, Forthcoming, Marshall School of Business Working Paper No. MKT 03-07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=961477 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.961477

Gerard J. Tellis (Contact Author)

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business, Department of Marketing ( email )

Hoffman Hall 701
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0443
United States
213-740-5031 (Phone)
213-740-7828 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://gtellis.net

Jaideep Prabhu

University of Cambridge - Judge Business School ( email )

Trumpington Street
Cambridge, CB2 1AG
United Kingdom

Imperial College Business School ( email )

South Kensington Campus
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London SW7 2AZ, SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom
+44 20 7594 9109 (Phone)
+44 20 7823 7685 (Fax)

Rajesh K. Chandy

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management ( email )

19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

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