Implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak for innovation: Which technologies will improve our lives?

In contrast to earlier coronavirus diseases such as SARS or MERS, whose impact was largely limited to specific regions of the world, the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is affecting people across the globe. This article analyzes the effects of this worldwide phenomenon on certain technologies and how this may improve our lives. It presents technologies that relate directly to the treatment of the virus as well as those that have been used to adapt to living under this crisis. Given that such a pandemic will likely affect humanity again, this article also highlights how these technologies may prove helpful in the future. To this end, technological challenges, related innovation logics, and their social impacts are discussed.

Frugal Innovation for Point-of-Care Diagnostics Controlling Outbreaks and Epidemics.

Today epidemics of infectious diseases occur more often and spread both faster and further due to globalization and changes in our lifestyle. One way to meet these biological threats are so-called "Frugal Innovations", which focus on the development of affordable, rapid, and easy-to-use diagnostics with widespread use. In this context, point-of-care-tests (POCTs), performed at the patient's bedside, reduce extensive waiting times and unnecessary treatments and enable effective containment measures. This Perspective covers advances in POCT diagnostics on the basis of frugal innovation characteristics that will enable a faster, less expensive, and more convenient reaction to upcoming epidemics. Established POCT systems on the health care market, as well as currently evolving technological advancements in that sector are discussed. Progress in POCT technology and insights on how to most effectively use them allows the handling of more patients in a shorter time frame and consequently improves clinical outcomes at lower cost.

Antecedents of Corporate Environmental Commitments: The Role of Customers.

The management of natural environments has become a fundamental issue for companies in recent years. A firm’s environmental commitment affects all levels of its operation. In this study, we investigated whether having an effective and constant relationship with customers over time (customer capital) makes a difference to firms with a high environmental commitment compared with less environmentally committed firms. We found support for our idea by using original survey data from 149 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Iran (2016⁻2017). Furthermore, we found that customer capital enhances environmental collaboration with customers which, in turn, has a positive impact on the firm’s environmental commitments. These findings provide empirical evidence for the important role of “getting closer to customers” as a way of enhancing corporate environmental responsibility in developing countries with weak institutional environments.