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Medium-Sized Firms and the Limits to Growth: A Case Study in the Evolution of a Spin-Off Firm
Abstract
This paper explores potential barriers to growth in key areas which can become increasingly problematic for some smaller to medium-sized firms (SMEs) as they grow and evolve from their early status as small scale spin-offs. These potential growth barriers can occur in: finance, competition from new firms or products and organizational integration of resources. Firms that fail to properly plan, manage and allocate resources will encounter difficulties in each area. Such firms are said to have poor 'governance systems'. While not proposing a universal theory about small firm behaviour, we argue that firms can encounter the same problems associated with poor communication, bureaucracy and loss of entrepreneurial spirit that plague large firms. We also show that the routines used to promote growth based on collaboration can sometimes create problems for firms as they ignore new challenges. We elaborate various theories on the limits to growth by examining the case of IV, a university spin-off.
... No caso das ASO, por constituírem um subgrupo direcionado para a comercialização de produtos inovadores e com forte propensão à internacionalização, as necessidades de financiamento são, em muitos casos, muito elevadas. Acresce uma percepção de risco muito alto por parte dos financiadores tradicionais (banca comercial), sendo, por isso, necessário recorrer a outras fontes financiamento, nomeadamente a capitais de risco ou a subsídios públicos (Brinckmann, Salomo, & Gemuenden, 2011;Cassar, 2004;Clarysse et al., 2007;Feldman & Klofsten, 2000). No entanto, se é certo que o acesso a financiamento parece ser um fator importante na sobrevivência e sucesso das novas empresas, não é isento de alguma polémica quanto à facilidade de angariação e disponibilidade de capital. ...
... A formação em negócios é outro mecanismo de apoio aos empreendedores, especialmente nas ASO, sendo cada vez mais frequente a organização de cursos de formação pelas universidades nas áreas da comercialização dos seus resultados de investigação e de gestão de novos negócios (Klofsten, 2000;van der Sijde & Cuyvers, 2003). ...
O livro sobre as Competências e Motivações para Empreender enquadra o projeto PIN/Poliempreende no contexto europeu e de ensino superior, analisando as políticas europeias para a educação em empreendedorismo, o perfil do empreendedor, avaliando o seu potencial, as competências empreendedoras a desenvolver, o impacto que as instituições de ensino politécnico têm nessas competências, como promover ambientes e oportunidades, recursos e iniciativas que os ajude a desenvolver e implementar os seus projetos, o que os motiva e quais as diferentes motivações de acordo com as áreas científicas. Realizaram-se estudos empíricos que suportam toda a reflexão e conclusão e permitiu encontrar um suporte para se ter uma visão integrada e integradora da “Instituição de Ensino Superior Empreendedora” que pretendemos ser, e que só é possível conhecendo as aspirações empreendedoras dos estudante
... De este modo, los spin-off surgen con el objetivo de comercializar una tecnología recién creada de una forma más rápida que si se optara por desarrollarla dentro de la empresa ya que la dimensión de esta nueva estructura organizacional (spun-off) le dota de mayor fl exibilidad y facilita la coordinación del diseño, producción y marketing del proyecto (FELDMAN y KLOFSTEN, 2000). Esta misma fl exibilidad garantiza a la empresa escindida -embrión de la innovación tecnológica-, que el spin-off se desarrolle de la forma más efi ciente posible y sea génesis, a su vez, de nuevos proyectos innovadores (BIRCH, 1987;BEST, 1990;IGGLAND, 2002). ...
El concepto de spin-off expresa la creación de nuevas iniciativas empresariales bajo el amparo de corporaciones u organizaciones ya existentes, que acaban adquiriendo, por iniciativa de una persona de la organización, independencia y viabilidad propias en términos de estructura jurídica, técnica y comercial. Las razones que subyacen al desarrollo de esta estrategia permanecen, hasta cierto punto, ocultas en la valoración positiva con que los inversores suelen acoger este tipo de estrategia. Nuestro trabajo trata de desvelar las causas que explican los procesos de segregación empresarial en España utilizando una muestra de casi 3.500 empresas durante el período 1992-2002. En consonancia con la literatura empírica existente, nuestros resultados identifican tres factores motivadores de las estrategias de spin-off: el deseo de focalización de las empresas para desprenderse de aquellas actividades que no le permitan seguir creciendo eficientemente en su núcleo de actividades, la comercialización de las inversiones realizadas en I+D+i y el establecimiento de un esquema más claro de incentivos a la dirección.
... (Lafuente and Berbegal-Mirabent 2017;Baglieri et al. 2018;O'Kane 2018;Rasmussen and Wright 2015;Ruokonen et al. 2008;Maine and Garnsey 2007;Zedtwitz and Grimaldi 2006;Feldman and Klofsten 2010 to cite only some).Instead, other studies have focused on single researchers. Indeed, academics' background and motivations are crucial for igniting knowledge transfer (Landry et al. 2010;Aldridge and Audretsch 2011;Kalar and Antoncic 2016;Filippetti and Savona 2017) and for determining the choice to activate one specific transfer channel instead of another (Gümüsay and Bohné 2018;Rizzo 2015;Walter et al. 2016, and so on). ...
Focusing on the Italian population of academic entrepreneurs, we analyze the effect of establishing a spinoff firm on researchers' attitudes towards carrying out other activities in collaboration with firms, namely, co-publishing and co-patenting. We investigate the heterogeneity in this effect in terms of existing collaborations with firms in the pre-spinoff period. Using a counterfactual analysis on subgroups, we verify that academic entrepreneurs with previous publications with firms diminish their co-publishing and increase their co-patenting after founding a spinoff. Conversely, academic entrepreneurs who had no previous publications with firms increase their co-publishing and decrease their co-patenting. We maintain that such results are related to academics' learning processes connected with their previous technology transfer activities. The policy implications are related to technology transfer aims and contradict the idea that promoting spinoffs is an appropriate "one-size-fits-all" initiative.
... Firstly, we have selected SME with less than 500 persons that were undergoing rapid growth because spin-off processes are more frequent (Bruno and Tyebjee, 1984) and yet poorly studied in such organizational context (Feldman and Klofsten, 2000). So, multiple cases of spin-offs in rapidly growing SME are more likely to enable better replication and extension of theory on spin-offs. ...
This paper analyzes how spin-offs can contribute to the micro foundations of dynamic capabilities in rapidly growing SMEs. Building on a multi-case study, three functions of spin-offs are analyzed at a supra level: boundary spanning to sense opportunities, flexible organizing to seize them and ambidextrous orchestration to reconfigure them. At an infra level, dynamic managerial foundations include a repertoire of cognitive, managerial and social skills that both the parent company owner-managers and the spin-off entrepreneurs share. However, they leverage those skills differently in terms of scope, speed and depth, thus complementing each other at different stages of the spin-off process.
... No caso das ASO, por constituírem um subgrupo direcionado para a comercialização de produtos inovadores e com forte propensão à internacionalização, as necessidades de financiamento são, em muitos casos, muito elevadas. Acresce uma percepção de risco muito alto por parte dos financiadores tradicionais (banca comercial), sendo, por isso, necessário recorrer a outras fontes financiamento, nomeadamente a capitais de risco ou a subsídios públicos (Brinckmann, Salomo, & Gemuenden, 2011;Cassar, 2004;Clarysse et al., 2007;Feldman & Klofsten, 2000). No entanto, se é certo que o acesso a financiamento parece ser um fator importante na sobrevivência e sucesso das novas empresas, não é isento de alguma polémica quanto à facilidade de angariação e disponibilidade de capital. ...
... internacionalização, as necessidades de financiamento são, em muitos casos, muito elevadas. Acresce uma percepção de risco muito alto por parte dos financiadores tradicionais (banca comercial), sendo, por isso, necessário recorrer a outras fontes financiamento, nomeadamente a capitais de risco ou a subsídios públicos (Brinckmann, Salomo, & Gemuenden, 2011;Cassar, 2004;Clarysse et al., 2007;Feldman & Klofsten, 2000). No entanto, se é certo que o acesso a financiamento parece ser um fator importante na sobrevivência e sucesso das novas empresas, não é isento de alguma polémica quanto à facilidade de angariação e disponibilidade de capital. ...
O Projeto PIN é consequência do trabalho da rede politécnica em termos de promoção e educação do empreendedorismo, o Poliempreende. Nesse sentido, é importante analisar o que os responsáveis por esse trabalho, nos Institutos Politécnicos, gestão de topo (presidência) e intermédia (coordenadores do Poliempreende) pensam sobre como ele é desenvolvido e quais vantagens assinalam sobre o projeto e quais os problemas que enfrentam para o implementar. Assim, a investigação desenvolvida e enquadrada em dois quadros conceptuais adotados, The Framework Condition Index e HEInnovate, de modo a poderem ser desenhadas estratégia de ação de melhoria para o futuro.
De um modo geral, a implementação de promoção e educação para o empreendedorismo nas instituições de ensino superior politécnico, seguindo as melhores práticas propostas pela Europa no que respeita ao desenvolvimento de competências empreendedoras, teve impacto em estudantes e docentes, influenciou a criação e desenvolvimento de condições potenciadoras, nomeadamente no que diz respeito ao intercâmbio com entidades externas, metodologias de ensino-aprendizagem, formação de recursos humanos, infraestruturas institucionais, acesso a financiamento, etc. O conhecimento produzido nas instituições traduziu-se em utilidade académica, social e económica.
... internacionalização, as necessidades de financiamento são, em muitos casos, muito elevadas. Acresce uma percepção de risco muito alto por parte dos financiadores tradicionais (banca comercial), sendo, por isso, necessário recorrer a outras fontes financiamento, nomeadamente a capitais de risco ou a subsídios públicos (Brinckmann, Salomo, & Gemuenden, 2011;Cassar, 2004;Clarysse et al., 2007;Feldman & Klofsten, 2000). No entanto, se é certo que o acesso a financiamento parece ser um fator importante na sobrevivência e sucesso das novas empresas, não é isento de alguma polémica quanto à facilidade de angariação e disponibilidade de capital. ...
This dissertation endeavors to offer a way to bridge the gap between the analysis of real and monetary phenomena in international economics. To this end, I analyze Cantillon effects, i.e. the differential impact of monetary expansion on prices, production, wealth, and the pattern of international trade. In Part I review the standard literature in international economics from the 19th century to contemporary theories. In Part II I use the contributions of Ludwig von Mises to the theory of money and business cycles as the foundation for the analysis of monetary expansion and international trade. In Chapter 4, I focus on the relationship between financial development and international trade. In Chapter 5, I analyze the impact of inflation and5fractional reserve banking on trade finance, and the transmission of business cycles across national borders. The main findings of my research are that monetary expansion modifies the direction, composition, volume and value of trade and capital flows. I apply this framework in Chapter 6, to explain the evolution of merchandise and capital flows over the last decades, and illustrate my findings with statistical evidence from the most recent financial crisis and the global trade collapse of 2008-2009. In Part III I analyze the impact of monetary expansion on international industrial organization, and the global distribution of income and wealth. In the concluding section, I draw out the major implications of my analysis for international trade and monetary policies, and its importance for future research.
Young technology-based firms have attracted considerable attention since the early 1980s. They are a vital source of innovation and are instrumental in disseminating new technology throughout the market. Many are spin-off firms created in areas close to universities or large, technology-intensive businesses, such as Cambridge (UK) and Silicon Valley (USA). In the Linköping region, where the author of this chapter is situated, about 400 technology-based firms in computer-related fields have been created during the past 15 years. The high founding rate and the growth of these firms have generated an interesting sample of small technological ventures to study.
This book sets out to examine small technologically innovative enterprises in Europe from the viewpoint of ten international researchers. Drawing on original empirical research, the contributions describe the different aspects of the business development and innovation process, including the creation and development of technology-based enterprises, the growth of the firm, different types of networking activities, and various development strategies when the firm is established.
In a large technology-based firm, technology and innovations can be developed internally, although they can also be acquired from external sources, such as small technology-based firms. In addition, technology and innovation can be spun off from one organisation to another, perhaps from a large technology-based firm to establish a new spin-off firm. Nevertheless, innovation researchers, as well as policy-makers, have traditionally focused strongly on whether large or small firms are the most frequent, effective and/or efficient innovators, rather than on the interaction between these firms. Earlier studies have, for example, shown that small firms often have advantages in the early stages of the innovation process, while large firms have advantages in the later stages of scaling up innovations, and large and small firms can interact in several ways, such as through ownership changes. This chapter concentrates on ownership changes in the forms of acquisition and spin-off of small technology-based firms.
This paper develops a conceptual model combining ideas from organization theory and industrial economics. According to this model, objective industry environments influence managers' perceptions of their environments, and managers' perceptions influence structural adaptations. As well as industry environments, individuals' characteristics and organizational structures also influence managers' perceptions. In contrast with other models, this model examines managers' perceptions in terms of several dimensions. Managerial choice and organizational slack also influence structural adaptations to environments.
This study examines whether slack resources have differential effects on the extent of a firm’s response to environmental shifts. Using a sample of 30 airlines during the transitional period of industry deregulation, we found that the relationship between slack resources and the extent of a firm’s environmental response is contingent on the firm’s pattern of resource allocations. Specifically, our results show that as firms allocate more resources toward activities which enhance external market effectiveness, increases in slack increase the extent of their environmental response. Conversely, as firms allocate more resources to activities that enhance internal efficiency, increases in slack decrease the extent of their environmental response. The implications of these findings are discussed. In particular, we examine these findings relative to the ongoing debate concerning the role slack plays in organizational adaptation processes.
A theoretical model is developed in which it is hypothesized that the contingent nature of strategy rests on the relative level of organizational slack present. It is suggested that organizational slack dictates necessary goodness of fit between structure and the interactive effects of contextual factors which, in turn, determine the nature of the relationship between strategy and structure.
This study examines whether slack resources have differential effects on the extent of a firm's response to environmental shifts. Using a sample of 30 airlines during the transitional period of industry deregulation, we found that the relationship between slack resources and the extent of a firm's environmental response is contingent on the firm's pattern of resource allocations. Specifically, our results show that as firms allocate more resources toward activities which enhance external market effectiveness, increases in slack increase the extent of their environmental response. Conversely, as firms allocate more resources to activities that enhance internal efficiency, increases in slack decrease the extent of their environmental response. The implications of these findings are discussed. In particular, we examine these findings relative to the ongoing debate concerning the role slack plays in organizational adaptation processes.
A resource-based approach to strategic management focuses on costly-to-copy attributes of the firm as sources of economic rents and, therefore, as the fundamental drivers of performance and competitive advantage. Interest presently exists in whether explicit acknowledgement of the resource-based view may form the kernel of a unifying paradigm for strategy research. This article addresses the degree to which a resource-based view represents a fundamentally different approach from theories used in industrial organization (10) economics. The central thesis is that, put informal terms, the resource-based approach is reaching for a theory of the firm. To determine its distinctiveness in comparison to IO, therefore, an appropriate comparison is with other theories of the firm developed within that tradition. Section I summarizes and analyzes five theories that have been significant in the historical evolution of IO. These are neoclassical theory's perfect competition model, Bain-type IO, the Schumpeterian and Chicago responses, and transaction cost theory. The first part of Section II analyzes the resource-based approach in terms of similarities to and differencesfrom these IO-related theories. The conclusion is that resource-based theory both incorporates and rejects at least one major element from each of them; thus resource-based theory reflects a strong IO heritage, but at the same time incorporates fundamental differences from any one of these theories. The second part of Section II analyzes resource-based theory as a new theory of the firm.