Innovation culture, technology transfer & performance: An empirical examination of the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories

To date, innovation culture and performance research has been conducted with heterogeneous samples of for-profit private or publicly traded firms. Limited research has examined the innovation culture and performance relationship among not-for-profit organizations, much less in government organizations with homogeneous resources and strategies. This study advances innovation culture and performance research, as it examines a mediator, technology transfer, among a sample of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Laboratories. The results show that innovation culture differed among the National Laboratories and had positive direct and indirect effects, via technology transfer, on performance measured by technology-related key performance indicators. This suggests that, all else being equal (resources and strategies), an innovation culture can be the “difference-maker” in achieving key performance indicators. Additionally, an innovation culture can foster technology transfer that also improves key performance indicators. The research offers important contributions to innovation culture research and managerial implications for practitioners seeking to improve organizational outcomes.