Dinara Kalmakova

Innovations play an important role in achieving competitiveness and long-term economic growth at all levels of the economic hierarchy. More recently, the role of sustainability-oriented innovation in achieving economic growth has become equally important. However, there is a scientific debate about the possibility of effective commercialization of sustainability-oriented innovations. The existence of such scientific debate, as well as the absence of citation-based systematic literature reviews, became a prerequisite for conducting a comparative literature review of research on the effective commercialization of conventional and sustainability-oriented innovations. The purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative review and analysis of research on the commercialization efficiency of conventional and sustainability-oriented innovations. The analysis was conducted on the basis of a citation-based systematic literature review method. The results show that sustainable innovation research is more focused on the relationship between commercialization and firm performance. In the field of conventional innovations, research trends have shifted from studying the impact of technology transfer office (TTO) size, staffing, compensation practices to how strategic factors affect the efficiency of commercialization. In the area of sustainability-oriented innovation, the issues of the strategic orientation impact cause the most sustained interest, while managerial concerns and the stringency of environmental regulations have been actively explored in the past few years. It was revealed that the commercialization efficiency of sustainability-oriented innovations is characterized by so called sustainability-oriented criteria. A distinctive output criterion for commercialization efficiency of sustainability-oriented innovation is the improvement of the firm’s image. In addition, content analysis identified possible research directions to be investigated.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in innovation activities, yet firm-level evidence on variation across innovation stages and organizational conditions remains limited in emerging economies such as Kazakhstan. This study examines AI use among surveyed firms in Kazakhstan, focusing on stage-specific influence, organizational correlates, barriers, reported effects, and managerial perceptions. A cross-sectional voluntary survey yielded a non-probability sample of 93 firms; data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Friedman and Wilcoxon tests, exploratory bivariate analysis, multinomial logistic regression, and descriptive review of open-ended recommendations. In the sample, 39.8% reported no AI use in innovation activities; 23.7% used AI frequently or always. Idea generation was rated higher than idea testing and selection (r = .398), although concordance in stage rankings was weak (Kendall’s W = .077). The reported AI-related resource-category count was associated with both occasional (RRR = 6.98) and frequent AI use (RRR = 7.10) relative to no reported AI use in innovation activities. At the same time, firm size and age were not significant. Skills shortages, financial constraints, regulatory uncertainty, and ethical concerns were the leading barriers. Among firms reporting AI use in innovation activities, the most frequently reported effects were greater innovation-process efficiency (46.4%) and improved understanding of industry opportunities and trends (30.4%). The findings provide exploratory firm-level evidence and highlight the relevance of organizational resource support, pilot-based implementation, and human oversight.

Acknowledgment
This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP23487651).
The authors sincerely thank JSC "Center for International Programs" and the "500 Scientists" research internship program of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A. Zhidebekkyzy's participation in the "500 Scientists" program provided a valuable academic environment that inspired the initial idea for this study.