Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Psychology

Researchers have long been calling for an increased focus on a process-oriented approach to understanding the implementation of innovations. This research builds upon a framework of implementation originally proposed by Klein and Sorra in 1996, and empirically tests an enhanced model of antecedents and consequences of innovation implementation. Specifically, climate for implementation, compatibility, and project slack were hypothesized to be related to implementation effectiveness. Implementation effectiveness was hypothesized to be related to innovation effectiveness, or the consequences to the organization. Reinvention (the degree to which the innovation has been modified) was expected to moderate this relationship. The perceived need to maintain fidelity to the original innovation was expected to moderate the relationship between extent of reinvention and innovation effectiveness. The data for this study consists of data gathered from key informants in fifty mental health agencies in Ohio using surveys and interviews. Climate for implementation, compatibility, and project slack were each significantly related to implementation effectiveness. Interestingly, climate for implementation explained the most variance in implementation effectiveness. Implementation effectiveness was related to innovation effectiveness, but this relationship was not moderated by extent of reinvention. Reinvention was negatively related to innovation effectiveness, and this relationship was moderated by the perceived need to maintain fidelity to the original innovation model. Overall, implementation effectiveness mediated the effect of compatibility and project slack, respectively, on innovation effectiveness. Implementation effectiveness, however, did not mediate the influence of Climate for implementation on innovation effectiveness. This research makes a number of contributions to the innovation literature. Implications for theory development and application are discussed.

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Health Programs

Background: Epidemiological evidence illustrates cancer as a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, approaching 20 million new diagnoses annually and exhibiting one of the most complex and nonuniform burdens throughout high-income countries (HIC) and developing nations alike. Despite an ongoing “War on Cancer”, significant translational disconnects are hypothesized as impeding the diffusion of critical health innovations, resulting in low-impact implementation as well as rural and isolated America experiencing dichotomous rates of cancer survival when compared to metropolitan areas (Freeman, 2004; Gemert-Pijnen, 2011; NIH, 2007; Rodin, 2017). While parallel healthcare disciplines have successfully leveraged Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) towards efficacious adoption of EBI, a persistent void within radiation oncology literature was identified. A DOI theoretical framework provided means through which fundamental differences in perceptions could be identified and contextualized. Methods: The current study conducted a cross-sectional exploration of geographically stratified radiation oncology treatment planners' perceptions as they pertained to evidence-based innovations (EBI). University IRB approval was obtained in Winter of 2021. Through the use of randomized sampling and validated DOI instrumentation, the perceptions of 165 practitioners were collected across 48 states using an electronic survey. Respondents were stratified along the USDA ERS rural-urban codification continuum (RUCC) and in accordance with historical workforce reporting. Techniques to ensure data reliability and that all statistical assumptions had been satisfied were performed prior to analysis. Final results were calculated using SAS. Results: Fundamental intra-strata differences in the perceptions of EBI were identified for the perceived characteristics (PCI) of compatibility (t(160) = 4.12, P < 0.0001, d = 0.7708), relative advantage (t(161) = 3.72, P = 0.0003, d = 0.6960) (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Management

Today, in a world context defined by increasing complexity, deepening disparities and rising uncertainty, the imperative of connecting knowledge with action to create systemic social change and achieve more equitable futures for all human beings is greater than ever. The task is ongoing and necessitates both the adaptation of known solutions and the discovery of new possibilities. This dissertation investigates the subject matter of design as a deeply humanistic knowledge domain that is drawing mounting attention and praise for its ability to open up new possibilities for action oriented toward social innovation and human progress. Paradoxically, despite unequivocal signs of such forms of design gaining prominence in our institutions and organizations, the unique value that professional designers impart to the class of systemic challenges and innovation opportunities at stake is an understudied pursuit that lacks articulation and merits elucidation. This dissertation contributes to filling that critical gap. Integrating theories of social innovation, organizational culture, institutional logics and design, and building on the construct of “design attitude” (a set of unique capabilities, abilities and dispositions espoused by professional designers and that are related to organizational learning and innovation), the dissertation relies on the interpretation and analyses of three independent field studies organized in a multiphase mixed methods exploratory design sequence. The dissertation is organized in a dialectical progression that presents the following overarching research question: How might we elucidate the value designers bring to the field of social innovation? The first study combines a grounded theory approach with a comparative semantic analysis of four case studies of design for social innovation projects (conducted with design teams from IDEO.org, Frog Design, Mind Lab and the former Helsinki Design Lab). The insights culled from semi-struct (open full item for complete abstract)

MDES, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Design

Innovation refers to incremental, radical changes in thinking, products and processes. Innovation, important to business, economics and technology, is extensively studied because it leads to an increase in companies' organic revenue growth and their bottom lines. Although the importance of design driven innovation is acknowledged in the United States, the value of design in innovation is underestimated internationally, especially in a developing country like China. That is why it is essential to understand how design could drive innovation in a different cultural context. The purpose of this thesis is to raise an awareness of how design driven innovation could be used as an important innovation strategy to help Chinese companies gain sustainable benefits. To achieve this goal, the relationships among innovation, design driven innovation and the traditional values based in Chinese culture are illustrated and a successful design driven innovative Chinese Cosmetic Company is employed as case study in this thesis. As a conclusion, this thesis identifies a unique element, Chinese traditional values, that could be used as one of key elements to achieving successful innovation for Chinese companies. This research is not only significant for showing the possibilities for Chinese businesses to achieve innovation, but also for suggesting possible strategies for international companies dealing with emerging markets issues.

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2023, Business Administration

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a significant retail shift, with consumers turning to online shopping due to safety concerns and lockdowns. Retailers quickly adopted omnichannel strategies, merging online and offline channels to stay relevant and enhance the shopping experience. This research, grounded in innovation diffusion theory, examined the pandemic's influence on customer behavioral intentions regarding omnichannel capabilities. Using a quantitative research approach with a survey in Northwest Arkansas, the study explored the relationship between innovation diffusion attributes and customer omnichannel Buy-Online-Pickup-at-the-Store (BOPS) behavioral intention. A ten-point Likert scale survey was adapted from Kapoor to gather data from 190 respondents online. The respondent's Intention to Use BOPS increased from 36.8% pre-pandemic to 84% post-pandemic. Data was analyzed using Pearson correlation for each characteristic and regression for the combined attribute and customer intention to use BOPS. Notably, relative advantage, compatibility, and observability attributes significantly impacted the model, whereas trialability and complexity lacked significance within the combined model. The findings suggested that customers prioritize buy-Online-Pickup-at-the-Store's relative advantage, compatibility, and observability when making adoption decisions. While complexity and trialability are essential, their significance diminishes when considered with other attributes. This study contributes valuable insights into consumer behavior during crises and the evolving retail landscape post-crisis. These findings can guide strategies for optimizing omnichannel capabilities and enhancing customer adoption.

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2023, Business Administration

The aim of this study was to explore Property & Casualty insurance executives' views of innovative and disruptive technologies' influence on organizational culture, leadership, and change management as the Property and Casualty business environment is rapidly evolving and changing. The insurance industry faces competition from new entrants and long-time competitors. The Covid-19 pandemic has been a significant disruptor of the traditional business models. Customers have shifted their expectations to online and mobile options to interact and conduct business. This study will use a qualitative phenomenological descriptive approach to address the research question and five sub-research questions. The study's conceptual framework incorporated disruptive innovation and change management theories to guide the study. The study population consisted of fifteen leaders at a director or officer level, and a criterion sampling strategy was utilized in finding the study's participants. The participants were interviewed via Zoom technology and asked open-ended questions to provide in-depth responses regarding their views of innovative and disruptive technologies' influence on organizational culture, leadership, and change management. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed for major themes. NVivo software was used for the coding analysis of the collected data. The research could lead to a broader review of disruptive innovations' impact on the internal and external environments that affect the US P&C industry's business models, drive change management, and foster and develop innovative cultures.

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2022, Management

Though recognized as a popular approach to advancing innovation in organizations, design thinking remains largely marginalized. Paradoxically, it is design that gets in its own way. It is applauded for its ability to make great things, yet fetishizing making limits design's ability to progress beyond product creation in organizations. Underneath the veneer of cosmetic design lies a design cosmology with strong commitment to a making or techne paradigm. Based on the assumption that organizations are products in a sense—bigger and more complicated than artifacts but artifacts nonetheless—prevailing design theories double down on making and production in their efforts to incite systems change. Unfortunately, this only perpetuates the issue of marginalization. I offer an alternative hypothesis—a theory of design for organizational change rooted in institutional theory and inspired by Aristotle and Augustine. From Aristotle, we understand that the design of living social systems is less about technical production (making) and more about creative action (doing). From Augustine, we understand that time is an important source of both constraint and enablement for human action in systems. In a theory of design as action, individuals can shift their temporal orientations within the flow of time so that time's structure is repositioned from something constraining to something enabling. I propose three sources of design agency that correspond to the temporal dimensions of the past, future, and present: action via memory, expectation, and attention. A qualitative autoethnographic account is depicted to demonstrate what this is like or could be like in a complex healthcare environment. In conclusion, I suggest that “design doing,” or doing design, is a domain-relative management practice suitable for the shaping of human systems. It is an argument that challenges the commonplace notion of what management is and what design is not. The ethos of design doing serves as a (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Management

Previous service innovation research has predominantly focused either on outcomes and typologies of service innovation or on the service innovation process itself. Little work explores service-innovation antecedents such as managers' behaviors or firm capabilities. This work helps fill this research gap. Specifically, this research explores how organizational-level factors help facilitate stewardship and thus drive service innovation capabilities. Stewardship is key in service-dominant logic as the value proposition is a promise not only about 'what' but also about 'how' the firm, the customer, and other parties co-create value on the basis of the value proposition, with the help of resources, providing a link between the behaviors, activities, and outcomes. To fill the research gap in service-innovation antecedents, the aim of this study is to examine stewardship as an operant resource in service-innovation antecedents and its effects that support and/or constrain the action of other operant resources such as service innovation capabilities under S-D logic. I use a mixed-methods approach to first understand (Study 1) what aids service innovation leading then to measure (Study 2 and Study 3) how and to what extent the role of stewardship as an operant resource affects other operant resources such as service innovation behavior, service innovation ideation, service innovation strategy development, and the utilization of the voice of the customer. My results suggest that the construct of stewardship has a positive impact on S-D logic's operant resources. My research findings explain the granularity of stewardship in S-D logic, with broader implications for service innovation.

Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Weatherhead School of Management

We explore the effect of leadership styles on organizational innovation, focusing on the lived experience of leaders and investigating the impact of organizational leadership, learning and innovation on financial performance. In the first part, we interview seventeen leaders to explore their experience of using strategic conversations to yield innovative outcomes. Although these organizational leaders uniformly espoused emergent conversation, whereby they prefer to collaborate with their teams in an experiential learning process, their conversations were primarily leader-driven directed discussions with specific outcomes in mind. Moreover, they emphasized the critical role of multiple strategic conversations distributed over time, with varied participants and purposes. In the second part, we use a global sample of public companies to examine the relationships among transformational and transactional leadership, exploration and exploitation and performance. We found that balancing transformational and transactional leadership drives innovative learning more effectively than engaging in any single style separately. Additionally, “where” ideas are sourced and “how” they are shared fully mediates the relationship between leadership and performance, suggesting a strong correlation between idea sharing effectiveness and earnings growth. Leaders must balance innovative idea sourcing (exploration and exploitation) with entrepreneurial idea sharing to unleash their organization's collective learning to drive successful performance.

MFA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

The intention of this investigation is to ascertain a process for creating culturally resonant brands and marketing them on social media successfully. This thesis proposes innovative commerce—the intersection between cultural innovation and social commerce—as a design strategy for doing so. A brand is a product or service that includes a culmination of the experiences and expectations consumers have attributed to it. In its most established form, the brand is a product of design thinking that encourages innovation. There are several methods of creating innovation however, this thesis focuses on cultural innovation. A cultural innovation is an “innovative cultural expression,” and cultural expressions are the conventions that help us understand the world; they are made up of ideology, myth and cultural codes (Holt & Cameron, 2010). It is a relevant tool for businesses and consumers today because commerce and technology have played and continue to play an essential role in shaping society and brands that deliver cultural innovations may have better chances of success in this technology and trade driven world. The social media and the physical worlds have begun to interconnect in significant ways within the last few years. Because traditional origins of cultural expression have been taken over by in large part mass media, social networks provide consumers and brands with sovereignty by presenting a single territory where commerce and technology intersect. This intersection is called social commerce, and social commerce is the use of social networks in the context of e-commerce. This research provides practical instructions on how brands can connect with consumers on an emotional and functional by implementing a design strategy that promotes innovations for social commerce.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2018, Leadership and Change

This study explored open innovation activities in small and medium-sized enterprises. Most open innovation research to date has focused on large organizations; however, how large organizations engage in open innovation is very different from that of small and medium-size enterprises. The embedded design, mixed methods study utilized a survey delivered to owners or other organizational executives and employees of small and medium-size enterprises to solicit information regarding whether small and medium-size enterprises are actively engaging in inbound open innovation activities, their motivation for engaging in open innovation, and the sources they are utilizing to obtain new ideas for products and services. The survey also solicited the perception of executives and employees as to organizational processes for open innovation and their organization's receptiveness to open innovation and employee ideas and compared the responses. Qualitative questions elicited employees' experiences with regards to idea sharing within their organization. The majority of the 320 participants, almost evenly split between executives and employees, were recruited using Amazon's® Mechanical Turk® platform. Results were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests and Chi-Square analysis. The study found that 91.2% of small and medium-size enterprises engaged in some level of open innovation activity. Executives from small and medium-size enterprises engaging in open innovation reported that 97.6% had open innovation formally or informally as part of their organization's business model and that they utilized employees as an important source of ideas. The results of this study exploring the presence of processes to facilitate open innovation and receptiveness to employee ideas in small and medium-size enterprises, found a clear disconnect between executive and employee perception of what organizations are communicating and doing with executives perceiving a greater level of support for open i (open full item for complete abstract)

MFA, Kent State University, 2017, College of Communication and Information / School of Visual Communication Design

This thesis is an investigation into sustainable business models and the different evaluation methods utilized in social innovation design. Over the last twenty years, there has been an increase in awareness and desire within the design industry to utilize design as a way to help solve some of the large, systemic social problems facing people all over the world. To make this work financially and sustainably, designers are utilizing a variety of for-profit and nonprofit business models. However, these business models are potentially hindering social innovation designers' access to the resources needed to measure the impact of their work. Social innovation designers are co-designing and developing services, programs, systems, and products with nonprofits and communities that are dealing with these social problems. Social change work of this nature requires designers and their partners to be engaged in measuring the long-term impact of their work in order to truly make lasting change. This has led social innovation designers to turn to evaluation methods used in the parallel fields of social work, community organizing, education, and public health, in order to track the impacts of their work. These evaluation methods also play a key role in helping social innovation designers better communicate the value they bring to their clients and partners. By utilizing and integrating these evaluation methods into their design processes, social innovation designers are leading the way for this field to gain broader acceptance and support.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, 2017, Integrated Bioscience

Biomimicry is innovation through emulation of biological forms, processes, patterns, and systems. What motivates practice is a basic understanding of natural selection as a process that favors high-performance, resource-efficient survival strategies – strategies that can be abstracted to address technical challenges from the molecular to systemic scale. Biomimicry has generated commercial solutions in diverse sectors, but industry practice is limited by a lack of clarity around quantitative / qualitative benefits and best practices. This body of work starts to unveil the different dimensions of value biomimicry can offer business, providing evidence of its potential to enhance creativity, increase rates of intellectual property generation, and inform environmentally sustainable solutions. It also details an iterative five-phase biomimicry process, validated in a corporate context, that can serve as a template for industry implementation. Perhaps most importantly, it describes how biomimicry helps us recall a fundamental truth we managed to forget: humans are a part of rather than apart from nature. Innovating from this point of view, we brighten prospects of a flourishing life on this planet.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2016, Manufacturing and Technology Management

Understanding the Relationship between Transformational Leadership Styles: Idealized Influence, Intellectual Stimulation, Inspirational Motivation, Individualized Consideration and Product Innovation among Manufacturing and Services Firms: The Role of Open System: Given our highly competitive and global market, organizations are constantly seeking continuous improvement of their products and services, and they strive to achieve higher innovation capabilities. Leadership with the ability to create this type of change and innovation is critical for an organization's survival. Most of the leadership literature has defined transformational leadership as a single-factor model. However, this empirical study will investigate the relationship between the individual components of transformational leadership on organizational outcomes. Specifically, the relationships between idealized influence, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration and product innovation as an outcome are examined. In the absence of such understanding, it is important to conceptualize them separately, for research purposes, as well as for leadership development purposes. Additionally, this study investigates the moderating role of open system as the organizational climate's framework—characterized by flexibility, outward focus, and reflexivity—on the relationship between the individual components of transformational leadership and product innovation. The objectives of the empirical study are: (a) to investigate the roles of the different dimensions of transformational leadership on product innovation. By doing so, the researc (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2015, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Ambassador Crawford / Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Research has shown that new product development's (NPD) impact on firm performance is ever important to a firm's competitive position, as it enhances competitive differentiation, establishes entry barriers to markets, and increases revenues and profits (e.g. Cooper 2011; Chen et al. 2010). Technology in today's markets has provided customers with greater information and the ability to communicate with companies on a global scale. With the growing transparency between firms and customers, more firms are utilizing customer participation in the NPD process, a collaborative NPD activity in which customers and firms create new knowledge and value through mutual, ongoing interactions (Blazevic and Lievens 2008). Research has shown that firms that utilize customers in NPD are expected to be more innovative (Fang et al. 2008) and have greater financial performance (Coviello and Joseph 2012). While initial empirical studies seem promising, much work still remains. The majority of research has focused on specific contexts, user groups, and has relied on case studies. This dissertation seeks to expand the nomological net of customer participation in NPD by examining its antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions of its effectiveness in a more generalized context. While gaining insight from customers may be advantageous to develop new products, firms must be able to internalize the information in order to capitalize on it and must possess the resources and capabilities to maximize its effectiveness. As such, organizational learning theory, the resource based view and its extension, the dynamic capabilities literature, help guide the arguments in this dissertation. This research suggests that not all firms may wish to integrate customers into the NPD process and customer participation's effectiveness may be contingent upon a firm's absorptive capacity -- the ability to acquire, transform, assimilate, and exploit external knowledge and apply it to commercial ends (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2014, Business Administration

Product complexity has been increasing over the past couple decades due to customer demand for new technologies and customized products. Firms must adopt these differentiated products to continue thriving in today's customer-driven market. Literature suggests that added product complexity has the potential to lead to greater profits if the complexity is managed effectively (Kekre & Srinivasan, 1990; Meeker, Parikh, & Jhaveri, 2009; Meyer & Mugge, 2001). Yet firms with higher levels of product complexity experience profit margins that are on average three percent lower than firms that do not have high product complexity (Bozarth, Warsing, Flynn, & Flynn, 2009; Hoole, 2006). Firms with greater product complexity typically do have higher revenue growth, but have lower margins (profits). A key imperative is to find ways of more efficiently managing complexity. Literature has shown that managing product complexity effectively poses great difficulty in coordinating complex systems and aligning product complexity with strategic goals (Jacobs & Swink, 2011). To more effectively manage complexity, firms must understand what is product complexity, and therefore, the drivers and outcomes of product complexity. This dissertation was structured to find management techniques in product complex environments that would render gains in profits instead of profit losses. This dissertation first proposes that product complexity must be understood clearly to identify product complexity drivers. Second, the link between product complexity and innovation must be explored to understand product complexity outcomes. Third, based on a clear understanding of product complexity, coordinating mechanisms that alleviate the strain from product complexity can be generated. This dissertation explores these relationships using three theories: contingency theory, complexity theory, and the resource-based view. The development of a research model is discussed, variables and constructs are def (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, Political Science

Fighting the war we are in is about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It is about adaptation. Adaptation is a particular kind of innovation, though we tend not to think of it that way. The literature on military innovation is focused nearly entirely on top-down processes. It posits a uni-directional model of innovation that begins above and terminates below. While this represents one potential pattern of innovation it is a decidedly lop-sided one. Innovation has two dimensions a vertical and a horizontal one. In a period of war the major route of innovation is the horizon—the battlefield. The primary innovator is the user of technology and tactics—the boots on the ground. This project traces the path of field level technological adaptations through two theaters of war and onto the modern battlefield. It demonstrates that major military innovation is possible from the field level upward but also that adaptation processes are an innovations all on their own that do not necessarily need support from above. The project suggests that there are three primary causal dimensions in field-level adaptation (horizontal and vertical linkages and machine design). These dimensions interact to produce outcomes that affect the creation and diffusion of new technologies. The causal dimensions were derived from a process of moving back and forth between data and theory—between insights generated by a random selection of soldiers and theories of user-innovation and open source/open design. This project explores these dimensions and their interactions through several cases studies that exhibit variation in terms of horizontal and vertical linkages. The final empirical chapter takes machine design as its central point of investigation and argues that the U.S. military is formally adopting user-centered technologies as a potential third path of technological development.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, History

U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers in Vietnam quickly adapted to battlefield conditions based in the hamlets and villages. Fighting featured short, sharp contests with insurgents often hardened by more than a decade of conflict with the French. Guerrilla foot-mobility and stealth had matched firepower and maneuver. Adaptations accumulated from experimentation by Special Forces soldiers into genuine innovation based on who they were, what they knew, and what they could make work. This critical analysis of Special Forces operations in Vietnam concludes that these soldiers demonstrated cognitive dominance during the period between the First and Second Indochina Wars. Achieving this dominance is a challenge common in history to soldiers and leaders. Special Forces adaptations collectively constituted a counterinsurgency program sought by the U.S. in response to the challenges to the small, hot conflicts of the Cold War. There was innovation sought but not understood or successfully applied on a larger scale in this transition between the two, “big” Indochina Wars. This examination of the Civilian Irregular Defense Group program reveals an interrelationship between strategy – relating means to ends – and knowledge – data and purpose-formed information that enables action. Special Forces soldiers developed and executed what needed to be done to mobilize indigenous minorities, having assessed what needed to be known. The synthesis that emerged required a balance among cultural, political, military and other elements. The search for competitive advantage – often based on knowledge – is at the heart of the rapid learning and adaptation that must take place when business organizations in the marketplace or military organizations on the battlefield face their opposition. Despite continuities with irregular warfare and alliances between westerners and indigenous highlanders, American institutional failure emerged from a tangle of ill-fitted military advice, poorly understood soc (open full item for complete abstract)

PHD, Kent State University, 2010, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

As advancements in mobility and communication technology significantly changed policing strategies in the twentieth century, recent advancements in analytical technology have the most potential to drive contemporary strategic innovation in policing organizations. The crime analysis function is essential to the implementation of innovations including problem-oriented, intelligence-led, and homeland security policing strategies. A robust analytical function is necessary for policing agencies to culturally and structurally transition from reactive and incident-driven organizations to proactive and mission-driven organizations. Although policing strategies that provide an alternative to the standard model of policing receive a considerable amount of scholarly attention, implementation of the analytical function required to institutionalize innovative strategies has only recently come under examination. This study poses three questions in examining the implementation of crime analysis in Ohio police departments. First, has crime analysis emerged in Ohio police departments? Second, has crime analysis been institutionalized in Ohio police departments? Finally, what type(s) of crime analysis is implemented in Ohio police departments? Data used in this study come from a survey administered to all municipal police departments in Ohio and interviews with chiefs of police. The data indicate low analytical capacity in Ohio police departments and poor understanding of crime analysis by policing executives. The absence of substantial analytical infrastructure, databases, distribution, and interpretive processes in Ohio police departments inhibits the implementation of strategic alternatives to the standard model of policing.

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University, 2011, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

The first essay develops a typology that identifies the multiple pathways, functions and operations where innovation can occur in a firm's internal business cycle based upon the extant literature that includes both technological and non-technological activities. This is an important step toward developing a comprehensive strategy for a regional economy and provides a common platform for the discussion of innovation among academics and practitioners. The typology adds to the existing knowledge of how innovation works in organizations by describing the pathways, business functions and operations in a firm's internal-business-process; the business strategies used to advance innovation to the market; and the market impact that innovation has in a regional economy. The typology is enhanced by the different threads of literature – innovation, technology, organization and marketing. The integrated approach allows academics and practitioners to understand how and where innovation occurs in firms and lays the foundation for robust metrics of the behavioral relationship between variables under study. The result is a set of assessment tools that permits diagnostics of the firm, industry, market and region. The second essay examines the relationship between innovation, emerging technologies, business firms' investment structure, and specialized types of private equity used to finance emerging technologies. A conceptual framework is developed for financial investment and a set of hypotheses tested for investment between Ohio and U.S. firms. Ohio firms take a different investing approach than U.S. firms when investing in a firm's stage of business development but are not significantly different when using specialized types of financing, investing in industry/technology niches, and investing in geographic markets. The third essay explores the role of innovation in business firms. The essay examines the reasons firms invest in innovation and then test the difference in the inn (open full item for complete abstract)