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Deploying Corporate Spin-offs as a Means to Leverage Innovation? - An Exploratory Case Study on Henkel Adhesive Technologies & Afinitica
Abstract
Increasing global competition, fast technological improvement, and rising customer expectations put increasing pressure on companies to operate in an efficient and effective manner, while continuously developing new products and services to meet current market demand. One of the most effective means to foster corporate entrepreneurship and innovation is the creation of spin-offs, where a parent company separates parts of its business into a new entity (De Cleyn and Braet, 2006). This Thesis is dedicated to fill current research gap by examining key factors of influence and the implication on R&D outcome, specifically by addressing the question:
How can companies in research-intensive industries leverage their research outcome though corporate spin-offs?
In the course of this investigation, practical insights are gathered through a case study based on Henkel Adhesive Technologies and their spin-off Afinitica. Apart from contribution to research, this exploration of Henkel, as the global market leader for adhesives solutions and one of the most innovative companies worldwide (Auris, 2018), provides interesting insights to innovation strategies and mechanisms from a global player. Additionally, the business model of the Spin-off Afinitica was analyzed and evaluated in terms of its fit to Henkel ́s strategy. In particular, the practical part of this study centers around the questions:
What are the key elements of Henkel ́s innovation strategy? How does the company ́s culture, policy, and practices support corporate entrepreneurship and new business development?
What is the business model of the corporate spin-off Afinitica? How does it fit to Henkel ́s innovation strategy and which benefits and challenges exist?
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This paper provides a systematic review of the current literature on technology commercialization. It serves to establish a foundation for the following empirical and theoretical contributions. Technological inventions are fundamental for a country’s economic growth. However, in order to actually generate value for society and profits for the involved companies, these inventions need to be successfully transferred to the market. Therefore, newly developed technologies need to be integrated into products which sell. In particular, our study focuses on the different interaction channels through which technology commercialization occurs. We analyze main groups of institutions, which can either act as developers of technologies and/or organizations bringing these technologies to the market: Universities and research institutes, technology startups, and established companies. We propose a theoretical framework of possible interactions between these organizations and analyze the success factors within the respective channels. Based on the systematic review of 140 articles, key characteristics of the technology development organizations are analyzed with regard to the different possible channels available to commercialize their technology.
Bislang wurde Open Innovation überwiegend als alleinstehender Innovationsansatz behandelt – er ist im Kern jedoch stark mit dem Forschungsfeld Corporate Entrepreneurship verwandt. Wir zeigen mit Hilfe eines strukturierten Literaturüberblicks, auf welche Art sich beide Konzepte überlappen und gegenseitig befruchten. Die Ergebnisse geben Raum für weitere Untersuchungen hinsichtlich bestehender Frameworks, Messinstrumente, spezifischer unternehmerischer Aktivitäten und deren Beitrag zur Innovationsleistung als bedeutsamem Teil der gesamten Organisationsleistung.
This paper presents a theoretical exploration of the construct of corporate entrepreneur-ship. Of the various dimensions of firm-level entrepreneurial orientation identified in the literature, it is argued that innovation, broadly defined, is the single common theme underlying all forms of corporate entrepreneurship. However, the presence of innovation per se is insufficient to label a firm entrepreneurial. Rather, it is suggested that this label be reserved for firms that use innovation as a mechanism to redefine or rejuvenate themselves, their positions within markets and industries, or the competitive arenas in which they compete. A typology is presented of the forms in which corporate entrepreneurship is often manifested , and the robustness of this typology is assessed using criteria that have been proposed for evaluating classificational schemata. Theoretical linkages are then drawn demonstrating how each of the generic forms of corporate entrepreneurship may be a path to competitive advantage. V-'orporate entrepreneurship has long been recognized as a potentially viable means for promoting and sustaining corporate competitiveness.
This study focuses on technology-based spin-off firms that have had their initial product idea originated in the previous employment of the founder. Such entrepreneurial spin-offs (ESOs) arise when an entrepreneur leaves an organisation to start a firm of his own. Using the data from 60 small Swedish technology-based firms, 30 such entrepreneurial spin-offs are identified. It was found that as many as two-thirds of the spin-offs had originated in private firms, and only one-sixth from universities. In this paper, the background and the performance, in terms of growth and inventiveness, are compared for the spin-off and the non-spin-off firms. It was found that, after an initial ten-year period, the spin-offs were growing significantly faster than the non-spin-offs. However, no significant difference in the inventiveness was found between the two groups. Neither the growth nor the inventiveness could be explained by pre-spin-off variables, but it is speculated that the earlier employment within the spin-off parent has indirectly influenced the performance of the spin-off firms.
Today's academic literature on new technology-based firms is rather growth and success-oriented, despite the fact that many valuable lessons can be learned from failures. This study aims at contributing to our understanding of failure processes by documenting five case studies of spin-offs that originated from European universities. Within the framework of the resource-based view of the firm and social capital theory, the venture's resource base is used as a central element in explaining the failures through the presence or absence of certain resources or by inappropriate application. The analysis mainly illustrated the negative influence of the lack of a champion, poor market development, the absence of market(ing) experience in the venture team and an unbalanced shareholder structure. The relatively small financial base seems rarely to be the main issues in the failure process.
Policy-makers have become increasingly aware that corporate R&D and innovation are the main drivers of an economy's competitiveness
and growth. The widespread adoption of R&D targets has led researchers and analysts to pursue a deeper understanding of corporate
R&D investment trends, drivers and impacts. This paper focuses on the main differences between the EU and the US in corporate
R&D performance, and has three objectives: to review the literature on this subject, to introduce the papers in this special
issue, and to discuss the possible implications for policy.
Thompson's two domain model, with its central core of rational activities separated from a mantle of boundary-spanning activities, tells us how organizations cope with externally generated uncertainties. Innovation is an internal source of uncertainty that this model does not adequately cover. Following Burns and Stalker, we suggest that the rational core and the organic boundary-spanning are incompatible domains of activity with different modes of governance. Many writers overlook the problems of coupling these domains and simply argue that "upstream" innovation activities can be managed organically while "downstream" implementation activities can be mechanistic. Sometimes they see a mixed mode of governance being applied between the project's initiation and completion points. We argue that far from there being a gradual transition from organic to mechanistic, there is a dialectical tension between these modes which is best managed by "nesting" the organic within a host matrix of bureaucratic activity. This recalls Bower's model of the resource allocation process in a stratified organization. Thompson's model, apparently focused on externally generated uncertainties, is thereby extended to deal with the internally generated uncertainties of the innovation process.
We combine theory and research on alliance networks and on new firms to investigate the impact of variation in startups' alliance network composition on their early performance. We hypothesize that startups can enhance their early performance by 1) establishing alliances, 2) configuring them into an efficient network that provides access to diverse information and capabilities with minimum costs of redundancy, conflict, and complexity, and 3) judiciously allying with potential rivals that provide more opportunity for learning and less risk of intra- alliance rivalry. An analysis of Canadian biotech startups' performance provides broad support for our hypotheses, especially as they relate to innovative performance. Overall, our findings show how variation in the alliance networks startups configure at the time of their founding produces significant differences in their early performance, contributing directly to an expla- nation of how and why firm age and size affect firm performance. We discuss some clear, but challenging, implications for managers of startups.Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This paper is the outcome of an extensive review of the literature concerning the broad fields of corporate entrepreneurship (CE) and organizational learning (OL). First, the CE and OL literature is examined, exploring the intra-relationships and processes within each field. Second, the literature that explores the overlapping processes and inter-relationships that link these two fields of research is critiqued. Third, a conceptual framework is presented which underpins future empirical research that explores the possible interactions and synergies between CE and OL.Interest in CE and OL has escalated over the past two decades as, individually, they provide possible ways of addressing contemporary organizational problems, such as the need to constantly encourage and manage strategic change. More recently, there has been interest in the potential links between the two concepts to enhance the effectiveness of each.Definitions, theories and models within CE and OL literature are numerous and diverse. Some of the key contributions are presented, followed by an exploration of how these theories and models relate to each other and how they differ. The complexities and contradictions within both the CE and OL literature are clarified, and it is noted that much theorizing lacks empirical evidence.The paper concludes by presenting a conceptual framework with two related models of the CE/OL relationship. Specific research questions are identified which, if empirically researched, could contribute to a more informed understanding of the complex and dynamic relationship between CE and OL and their impact on strategic change.Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Purpose
– To examine the literature on corporate entrepreneurship and innovation and to develop a combined definition of these two terms. Moreover, the literature is used to construct a holistic model that seeks to explain the links between corporate entrepreneurial activity and the innovation process.
Design/methodology/approach
– A number of published works on entrepreneurship and innovation are critiqued. The findings from this literature review are used to develop a framework illustrating the relationships between the corporate entrepreneur and the innovation process.
Findings
– The paper presents a combined definition of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation and, from the literature review, concludes that previous models on entrepreneurship and innovation are fragmented because there is little exploration on the relationships and dynamics between these two factors. A framework of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation is constructed by synthesising the information gathered from previous literature. This model shows that there are missing links between the entrepreneur and the innovation process. The paper discusses three factors that may explain both the dynamics and the relationships between the entrepreneur and the innovation process. These are entrepreneurial attitudes, vision and actions.
Originality/value
– This paper fulfils an identified gap in the literature, namely the lack of investigation into the links between the corporate entrepreneur and the innovation process, and suggests three factors that could be used to explain this gap. Part 2 of this paper will present a new holistic model of corporate entrepreneurship and innovation that illustrates the relationships between these two areas in more detail.
The topic of this paper is research-based spin-offs from public organisations. The initial point is a discussion about the
economic benefit of such companies. The paper investigates factors influencing the generation, development, and growth of
research-based spin-offs built on scientific know-how or research results. An analysis of previous empirical studies allows
the identification of three main groups of success factors, concerning the founder, the environment, and the later company
itself. Based on Gartner’s framework of new venture creation—used as a structure-building tool and substitute of entrepreneurial
theory—we give an overview of entrepreneurial success factors. We also identify inconsistencies and gaps in empirical evidence
and guidelines for further research. Particular explanation seems to be necessary for incentives, ideas, and incubation environments,
all having an impact on formation and performance of spin-offs.
Over the past decade, the Sharing Economy gained momentum among representatives from economy and science alike. The growing importance of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Carsharing disrupts common patterns of mobility behavior, thereby shaping the global business landscape. The new mobility solution, which refers to car rental among private individuals, does not only implicate economic value but also addresses broader societal issues such as environmental protection, sustainability, and traffic congestion. Therefore, investigation in underlying motives of P2P Carsharing users is required in order to accomplish customer satisfaction, as a key pillar of success. The present study performed a comprehensive approach to fill the gap in current research and provide detailed insights and actionable recommendations for both scientists and practitioners. In course of the investigation, fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted and subsequently analyzed using the means-end chain (MEC) approach. The findings were summarized into four overarching motivational patterns: Improve, Simplify, Economize, and Engage. Based on the results, comprehensive theoretical and managerial implications were elaborated.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is recognised as one of the most disruptive technologies in the market as it integrates physical objects into the networked society. As such, the IoT also transforms established business-to-customer interactions. Remote patient monitoring, predictive maintenance, and automatic car repair are examples of evolving business-to-thing (B2T) interactions. However, the IoT is hardly covered by theoretical investigations. To complement the predominant technical and engineering focus of IoT research, we developed and evaluated a taxonomy of B2T interaction patterns. Thereby, we built on sociomateriality as justificatory knowledge. We demonstrated the taxonomy’s applicability and usefulness based on simple and complex real-life objects (i.e., Nest, RelayRides, and Uber). Our taxonomy contributes to the descriptive knowledge on the IoT as it enables the classification of B2T interactions and facilitates sense-making as well as theory-led design. When combining weak and strong sociomateriality, we found that the IoT enables and requires a new perspective on material agency by considering smart things as independent actors.
What are the secrets of competitive R&D on a global scale? Based on empirical research with hundreds of R&D executives from more than 80 companies and 1000 R&D laboratories, the authors present new concepts and trends in global R&D management. Case studies from 22 best-practice companies illustrate how to put these concepts into practice. Adding new examples and management models, this third edition has been completely revised and updated incorporating emerging themes in R&D such as intellectual property management, innovation in China and India, technology listening posts, and leading R&D centers. "A wealth of data followed by thorough analysis. A must read for R&D managers and business leaders."Frans J.A.M. Greidanus, Senior Vice President, Philips Research"a book whose rich trove of examples will inform the thinking of any manager who must think strategically about how to get the most out of R&D resources that are scattered globally. With the rise of knowledge hubs throughout the world, this third edition is especially timely."Philip Anderson, Professor, INSEAD"An insightful and thorough work on the development of global innovation that identifies key strategies and perspectives with relevant and important lessons for those venturing into the global R&D arena .... and hit the mark for those of us who have been in the middle of building this architecture." Dr. Richard Carpenter, Global R&D Director, Procter and Gamble.
It is generally accepted that a family's involvement in the business makes the family business unique; but the literature continues to have difficulty defining the family business. We argue for a distinction between theoretical and operational definitions. A theoretical definition must identify the esence that distinguishes the family business from other businesses. It is the standard against which operational definitions must be measured. We propose a theoretical definition based on behavior as the essence of a family business. Our conceptual analysis shows that most of the operational definitions based on the components of family involvement overlap with our theoretical definition. Our empirical results suggest, however, that the components of family involvement typically used in operational definitions are weak predictors of intentions and, therefore, are not always reliable for distinguishing family businesses from non-family ones.
The notion is examined of spin-off as a form of knowledge and technology transfer from academic or other public sector research organisations to the commercial market. This covers a wide spectrum of activities which carry both costs and benefits for the innovation system as a whole. Moreover, the capacity to engage in these activities varies considerably by sector and technology focus.
The concept of regional technology spill-overs created by university research is one of the most enduring theories within the economic geography and innovation management fields. This article introduces an alternative perspective on academic commercialization, arguing that the quality of a university's regional environment can significantly impact a university's success in commercializing science. Recent research on university technology transfer stresses the importance of personal contacts between academic and industry scientists in driving commercialization. The social structure of the regional economy in which a university is embedded will strongly influence the density of contacts linking university scientists with individuals in industry, and through doing so, impact the density of networks through which university knowledge can be commercialized. Social network analysis is used to examine the quality of social ties linking industry and university scientists within the San Francisco and Los Angeles California biotechnology industries over the 1980-2005 period. Results support the theory that the existence of strong social networks linking inventors heightens university commercialization output. Despite similar university research endowments, universities in San Francisco have dramatically commercialization outputs than San Francisco, which is correlated with the existence of cohesive inventor networks linking industry and university scientists in this region, but not Los Angeles. Moreover, longitudinal analysis shows that the commercialization output of San Francisco universities increased substantially starting in the early 1990s, the time period in which cohesive inventor networks emerged in the region.
Industrial biotechnology is the commercial application of biotechnology using cells or components of cells, like enzymes, for industrial production processes including consumer goods, bioenergy and biomaterials. In the last years this area has gone through a fast technological development resulting in a high number of basic technologies based on research efforts at universities and research institutions. But a technology transfer gap exists between basic research and the commercialisation of the results. This gap can be closed by academic spin-offs which manage the technology transfer from universities and research institutions to industrial companies. After the spin-off process, the technology is further developed within the new venture normally using additional resources from external investors. As soon as the technology reaches a certain grade of maturity, the spin-offs can co-operate with an established company and work for them as a service provider or be acquired. The chosen approach of technology transfer depends on the type of company. Whereas multinational enterprises (MNEs) are very active in making new technologies available both by acquiring spin-offs or engaging them as service providers, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are focused on partnering with spin-offs, due to limited financial and management resources.
The spin-out of research and development (R&D) activities from established companies has increased during recent years. The reasons for realising corporate spin-outs, especially regarding the involvement of financial investors, were investigated based on 30 European case studies within the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The reasons can be categorised into two groups: an investment and a divestment rationale. Whereas the chemical industry uses both rationales, there are only divestment cases in the pharmaceutical industry. The investment cases within the chemical industry show that R&D spin-outs can make an important contribution towards the flexibilisation and performance improvement of a company's internal R&D. The divestment cases show that R&D spin-outs can be a suitable possibility to continue promising R&D activities. The survival rate of the analysed spin-outs is high and numerous new jobs have been created in the past years, especially in pharmaceutical spin-outs.
Although previous research shows that corporate spin‐offs contribute to economic growth, few studies link growth to the type of corporate spin‐off. We distinguish between three types of corporate spin‐offs: incumbent‐backed, opportunity, and necessity spin‐offs. Using empirical data on 46 corporate spin‐offs in Flanders, we find that opportunity spin‐offs outperform the other two types. By identifying the type of corporate spin‐offs, this study aims to add to our knowledge on the relationship between spin‐off type and firm growth.
I outline a synthesis of micro and macro levels that attempts to provide a broader conceptualization of academic entrepreneurship and an appreciation of the contextual heterogeneity of academic entrepreneurship and the implications for how it occurs. The micro-level concerns how firms orchestrate their resources and capabilities, specifically knowing where resources come from and how to accumulate, bundle and configure them to generate sustainable returns. At the macro level, I analyse four different dimensions of context: temporal, institutional, social and spatial. Consequently, I argue that there is a need for a reconciliation of utilitarian and education-for-education’s sake perspectives on the role of universities.
This paper explores the applicability and the current implementation of spin-out business models by global management consultancy firms (MCFs). The study is built on the notion that these service firms should continuously be prepared to innovate their business. Sometimes incrementally, but if necessary drastically. In order to survive and grow in a highly competitive environment they should use a business model that allows them to inject flexibility and leverage on their entrepreneurial and innovative capabilities on different levels. The theory of spin-out management and business models is used as a theoretical framework. In combination with an overview of developments in the management consulting sector, this framework provides the basis for analyzing the results of the empirical study.
This is a book about the formation, development, and success or failure of new high technology companies, focusing on those that grew under the auspices of entrepreneurs from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston at the end of World War Two. Trained in high-technology in MIT's labs and academic departments or in the local industrial marvel that became known as the "Route 128 phenomenon", these entrepreneurs took their technical and innate skills with them to found their own new companies. The book is based on extensive empirical research on these firms conducted over a period of twenty-five years and much previously written work on the subject, and is the culmination of such earlier work and synthesized findings. It centers on people, technology, money, and markets, and its main goal is to provide insights that may eventually contribute to fulfilling other entrepreneurs' dreams and other communities' hopes. The book chapters comprise three connected sections - treating birth, transition and growth, and success or failure.
The authors review the different facets of the incubation process for high-tech companies and highlight its complex and multidimensional nature. They then assess what are the most critical factors in incubation in the context of the market supply and demand for incubation facilities. They identify two key facets, selectivity and productivity requirements, and through these construct a typology that is founded on non-ambiguous factors. They discuss the implications of this typology using data from exploratory research and suggest areas of focus for further empirical studies.
Little research has examined the performance implications of the parent-child relationship post spin-off. Although the parent provided oversight of the child prior to the spin-off, effects of post spin-off links to the child remain unclear. Applying transaction cost and agency theories, our study of 142 firms spun-off between 1986 and 1997 examines how oversight and ownership by the parent firm influence stock market performance post spin-off. We find that while child firms benefit from some links to the parent, having too many links is negatively related to performance. The findings suggest that there is a balance between having too much parental involvement and not enough. Our study extends understanding of post spin-off child firm performance and provides valuable insights for both parent and child firms.
Technology transfer and commercialization forces andfactors at five universities are identified. Georgia Tech, North CarolinaState, The University of Florida, The University of Texas at Austin, andVirginia Polytechnic Institute are studied as well as the role of theirleadership and their need to embrace technology transfer and commercialization.The study also reviews how each supports technology transfer initiatives,highlights innovations to facilitate technology transfer, and describes how theuniversities use technology transfer to support the economic development oftheir regions and states. A benchmarking comparison of the universities concludes the study. Some ofthe findings indicate that in order to have an effective technology transferoperation, a university's boards and its leaders must believe that the rolesand responsibilities of a university include the generation, transfer, andcommercialization of intellectual property; university leaders need to believethat theuniversity has an important role to play in local and regionaleconomic development through the creation of new companies and assistance toexisting ones; and technology transfer needs to be considered an important partin the group of responsibilities of the Vice President of Research, and not aset of activities grafted onto the traditional functions of research andteaching.(JSD)
In recent years, the marketing literature has placed significant emphasis on market-driving and proactive market-driven behavior within firms in attempts to reconceptualize the meaning of market orientation. For their part, market-driving firms such as Starbucks, Amazon.com, Dell, and Southwest Airlines are demonstrating how business model innovation results in sustainable advantage and superior long-term performance in a wide range of industries. In this paper, we contend that market-driving behavior is distinct from a firm's market orientation, and instead is the essence of entrepreneurial action in the Schumpeterian creative destruction sense. It is further argued that the firm's entrepreneurial orientation interacts with other strategic orientations, in the process determining how they are manifested and, in some cases, whether they are manifested. Furthermore, entrepreneurial orientation plays a critical role in determining transitions among various strategic orientations over time. An integrative model illustrates the dynamics of the interface between marketing and entrepreneurship from both a content and process perspective. Two case studies illustrate how trajectories can be identified in the dominant strategic orientations within companies as they evolve.
This paper deals with newly established ventures and their relations with external agents. The founding teams' intention to set up relations with external agents and their frequency of interaction with external agents are addressed as two characteristics that are likely to lead to the success of academic spin-off companies. Empirical analysis is based on a data set of 40 Italian academic spin-offs. The external agents who are most likely to have interactions with academic spin-off companies are first identified. Two research hypotheses are then put forward: a) that the intention of the founding teams to set up relations with external agents is influenced by the degree of articulation of roles and the completeness of the founding teams; b) that the founding teams' frequency of interaction with external agents is influenced by the frequency of interaction with external agents of the research groups of origin and by their scientific and technological excellence. Some remarks are then made on the role that universities play in helping new ventures to set up relations with external agents.
Advances the notion of "intrapreneuring," an in-house form of entrepreneurship, and examines how intrapreneurs and corporations can work together for mutual benefit. Innovation is essential to continued commercial vitality and large organizations often have the ideas and resources to implement innovation. What they often lack, however, is a corporate culture that fosters identifying and converting these ideas into commercially viable ventures. The solution, according to the author, is the intrapreneur: one who takes a hands-on responsibility for creating innovation within the organization. Using a case study approach, the book analyzes characteristics of intrapreneurs, the intrapreneurial process, and how companies can develop an intrepreneurial culture. Intrapreneurs prefer action to extensive planning; nevertheless, they are calculated risk-takers who will assume responsibility for envisioning the necessary product, market, and management strategies. Because of this preference, the objectives of the intrapreneur can be aligned with the needs of the company. Furthermore, intrapreneuring provides an innovator with a built-in stock of assets, allowing the employee more time to implement the vision and less need to worry about securing investment capital that is faced by entrepreneurs. The intrapreneurial process is similar to the entrepreneurial process, with business plans and idea champions. Intrapreneuring also distinctively involves a role for the in-house sponsor, one who will finesse the corporate politics while the intrapreneur attends single-mindedly to making the idea a reality. Frequently, sponsors are found among owners, CEOs and former intrapreneurs. The last section of the book identifies corporate cultural factors that will promote intrapreneurship. Additionally, the need for appropriate incentives, since few intrapreneurs are driven by a desire to accumulate massive wealth, is discussed. The author proposes a system of "intracapital," a commitment to provide a certain amount of discretionary funds without an expiration date as a reward to in-house innovators. (CAR)
Four promising research avenues in corporate entrepreneurship are identified which have important implications for knowledge creation and exploitation as well as organizational learning. The discussion opens with a focus on how knowledge is created through four types of corporate entrepreneurship and their implications for organizational learning. The four types are sustained regeneration, organizational rejuvenation, strategic renewal, and domain redefinition. Mediated by two forms of organizational learning, these types lead to three forms of new knowledge that are used differently within the firm. The roles of leadership and social exchanges in the corporate entrepreneurship process are identified. These roles and information exchanges cross levels of management and promote the types of organizational learning required by the four types of corporate entrepreneurship. The interplay between corporate entrepreneurship and internationalization is discussed. A typology is proposed which that separates content from process-related studies in new ventures versus established companies. Finally, the outcomes of corporate entrepreneurship research is assessed considering the importance of social, human, and intellectual capital in creating competitive advantages and wealth in today's knowledge economy. The need to include multiple measures of economic and financial outcomes of corporate entrepreneurship initiatives and to include stakeholder perspective is stressed. Organizational learning theory is used throughout the discussion to emphasize the contributions of corporate entrepreneurship to knowledge creation and exploitation.(TNM)
In this paper we examine the impact various compensation programs have upon business-level strategy for technology-intensive firms. Similarly, we examine the effect of centralization of R&D and non-R&D decision-making, formality of procedures, and SBU size on competitive strategy. Analysis of data from 79 SBUs suggest that there is a resource trade-off between marketing-oriented strategies and R&D-oriented strategies, and that managers who operate under certain types of compensation programs will tend to favor R&D/innovation strategies and capital investment over other alternatives. Structure and competitive position also appear to play a significant role in determining technology and investment strategy.
This paper examines the role of learning in corporate restructuring. Drawing from two viewpoints of organizational learning, absorptive capacity and organizational improvisation, we examine whether experience with corporate restructuring modes (sell-offs, spin-offs) influences subsequent restructuring and financial performance. Consistent with an absorptive capacity view, cumulative and repetitive experience with sell-offs was related to the adoption of an ensuing sell-off and to higher performance. Conversely, and consistent with an organizational improvisation view, short-term and contemporaneous experience with spin-offs was related to the subsequent use of spin-offs and to increases in financial performance. The findings contribute to a dynamic explanation of corporate restructuring and its influence on financial performance, illustrate differences between learning in a repetitive situation and learning when repetition is rare, and indicate when absorptive capacity and organizational improvisational views are most profitable. Overall, these findings show that different kinds of restructuring experiences were associated with different modes of restructuring and performance records. Considered collectively, the organizational learning perspective offers insights into why some corporate restructuring strategies appear as intentional and deliberate actions while others resemble more spontaneous and simultaneous responses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Researchers who start their own businesses are expected to locate close to the parent organisation (i.e. universities, public research labs) in order to benefit from spillovers, thus transferring localised knowledge into the regional economy. However, empirical evidence on location patterns of public research spin-offs is rather limited and usually restricted to case studies for certain universities and regions. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the spatial distribution of new firm formations by researchers from universities and public research organisations, based on a representative data set for Germany. It shows that location patterns of public research spin-offs do not differ from other new firm formations. Proximity to the parent institution is of little significance for location decisions, whereas spin-offs are attracted by locations with a high number of potential customers and a large supply of highly qualified labour. Public research spin-offs rather contribute to an interregional than to an intraregional knowledge transfer.
The question of how initial resource endowments-the stocks of resources that entrepreneurs contribute to their new ventures at the time of founding-affect organizational life chances is one of significant interest in organizational ecology, evolutionary theory, and entrepreneurship research. Using data on the life histories of all 134 firms founded to exploit MIT-assigned inventions during the 1980-1996 period, the study analyzes how resource endowments affect the likelihood of three critical outcomes: that new ventures attract venture capital financing, experience initial public offerings, and fail. Our analysis focuses on the role of founders' social capital as a determinant of these outcomes. Event history analyses show that new ventures with founders having direct and indirect relationships with venture investors are most likely to receive venture funding and are less likely to fail. In turn, receiving venture funding is the single most important determinant of the likelihood of IPO. We conclude that the social capital of company founders represents an important endowment for early-stage organizations.