Fostering innovation through stakeholders’ engagement at the healthcare industry: Tapping the right key

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the extent to which each stakeholder in the healthcare industry influences the final innovation outputs. We propose and test a model that integrates stakeholders’ engagement, innovation objectives, and innovation outputs. Data from over 400 healthcare Spanish companies are analyzed using the Partial Least Squares modeling technique.

Results indicate that stakeholders’ engagement is crucial in guiding innovation objectives, which are directly and positively related to innovation outputs. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the importance of society's involvement in co-creating and participating in innovation activities within the healthcare industry, highlighting its role as both a trigger and a primary beneficiary of innovation.

This paper not only uncovers the relationship between healthcare stakeholders and innovation outputs but also addresses another research question—identifying which stakeholders have a stronger relationship with innovation outputs. Our findings suggest that healthcare industry managers and policymakers should leverage their relationship with clients/customers/patients/final users to gather innovation-related information effectively, thereby enhancing their innovation outputs.