The innovation work environment of high–tech SMEs in the USA and Canada

This study examined the climate for innovation and creativity, and related outcome measures, in 31 Canadian and 11 US small– and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs), as assessed by 120 R&D engineers in those firms. Prior studies on the innovativeness of countries have been critical of Canadian firms compared to those in other industrialized countries. Our study tested whether differences existed between perceived climates, creativity and productivity of US and Canadian SMEs. The results indicated that the innovative climates and the perceptions of creativity and productivity of US and Canadian firms are very similar. Furthermore, the most important factors relating to creativity (Challenging Work and Organizational Encouragement) were the same for both the USA and Canada. Our conclusion is that support for innovation in Canadian SMEs is comparable with that of US SMEs. Differences in innovation measured at the national level can probably be attributed to other factors, such as industry structure and the degree of innovation in large firms.     

Interorganizational Imitation and Acquisitions of High‐tech Ventures

Research summary: This article shows that there is a positive association between the changes in the number of prior acquisitions or the changes in the prominence of prior acquirers within the focal venture's subfield and the venture's likelihood to be acquired. Results are in line with the existence of frequency‐ and trait‐based imitation in acquisitions targeting tech ventures. More importantly, these positive associations are more pronounced when (a) exogenous technological uncertainty within the venture's subfield increases and (b) there are significant differences between the focal venture's and acquirer's technological resources. Our findings are in accord with the suggestion that uncertainty in the technology domain is an important boundary condition in moderating the extent of imitation in technology acquisitions. We also discuss alternative explanations and implications. Managerial summary: The findings of this article suggest that when deciding whether or not to acquire a technology venture (i.e., startup company in a high‐tech industry), managers infer information by observing other acquisitions in the venture's subfield to make assessments about the underlying value of the potential targets. We also find that receiving some informational cues from previous acquisitions would be more useful when there is high technological uncertainty in the potential target's subfield about which technologies will be dominant, and when the potential acquirer and the tech venture operate in dissimilar technological areas. This article shows that imitation can be one way to deal with decision‐making under uncertainty when making acquisition decisions in high‐tech environments. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new business venture

The venture is into the business area of Medical Aids. The first steps were taken by the Division just over three years ago. This paper describes the action which was taken by the Pharmaceuticals Division of ICI Limited to move into a New Business Venture, the experiences so far and some of the lessons learned which either have confirmed or contradicted the original ideas.     

A new business venture

This paper describes the action which was taken by the Pharmaceuticals Division of ICI Limited to move into a New Business Venture, the experiences so far and some of the lessons learned which either have confirmed or contradicted the original ideas.
The venture is into the business area of Medical Aids. The first steps were taken by the Division just over three years ago.     

Explaining post‐IPO venture performance through a knowledge‐based view typology

We extend the knowledge‐based view with a new typology and its application to post‐IPO firm performance. The typology categorizes knowledge development activity along the dimensions of familiarity (whether the firm has experience with the knowledge or it is new) and source (whether the firm creates it independently or with partners). We use this typology to determine direct and interaction effects of knowledge development activity on survival, RoA, and Tobin's q of newly public firms. Using a sample of 1,056 high‐technology manufacturing IPOs in 1990–2005, we find that focused, internal knowledge development correlates with higher performance. We also find a positive interaction effect in combining focused, internal and diversifying, alliance‐based knowledge development, and a negative interaction effect in combining diversifying, internal and alliance‐based knowledge development. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

海力士与意法半导体合资存储器芯片制造厂落成

中国目前最大的晶圆制造厂,使合资双方的制造成本更具竞争力,更迅速进入世界增长最快的中国市场。2006年10月10日,倍受关注的意法半导体公司和海力士半导体江苏省无锡市合资建立的存储器芯片前     

你对工作满意吗?

随着业务外包给电子行业工人带来的巨大恐慌,一些高科技公司通过更多的直接沟通来提升公司士气,像Intel公司的很多员工就参加了一系列有关平衡工作和生活之间关系的论坛.     

Stimulating creativity through managerial intervention

By linking creativity enhancement constructs to motivation theory, this paper theorizes how research managers, by virtue of their relationship with research personnel, may engage in behaviour which stimulates creative effort. Proposed is that the stimulation of creativity results from a basic scientist experiencing self-actualization needs. Self-actualization becomes prepotent in part as a result of the research manager's effort to satisfy lower level and higher level needs of scientists. Research managers may help satisfy such needs by virtue of their linking pin function, by engaging in goal setting and task definition, and by acquiring needed resources.
The specific needs of basic scientists are specified based on the characteristics of basic scientists; two are predominant:—
1. The scientist is a professional, exhibiting many of the characteristics of professionals.
2. The scientist is a creative individual who, when sufficiently motivated produces novel ideas, combines old ideas in a novel way, or applies knowledge of one field to another.
By satisfying the particular needs aroused by professional norms and creative ability, the research manager hence may help satisfy the needs of basic scientists.
Appropriate managerial behaviours are linked to creativity enhancement in a model depicting the mechanisms whereby scientists are so motivated. Hypotheses are proposed as a basis for future research in testing the model.     

Rise of strategic nets — New modes of value creation

This paper focuses on the type and management of intentionally created business networks called nets. Nets are extensively being used to achieve a variety of benefits over those of a single firm or market transaction. We propose that the effective management of different types of business net is dependent on their underlying value creation logic. Based on this notion a value creation framework of three generic net types - ‘current business nets’, ‘business renewal nets’, and ‘emerging new business nets’ - is suggested. We argue that they pose widely different conditions and requirements for net management. The management mechanisms of these basic net types are then identified and discussed. We contend that the proposed contingency framework captures the complexity and variety of the expanding strategic business nets in a more valid way than the extant classifications of network organizations. The paper contributes to the emerging theory of network management.     

Entrepreneurial co‐creation: societal impact through open innovation

New open innovation initiatives, such as accelerators, living labs, social innovation labs and open labs, involve for‐profit and not‐for‐profit actors working closely together to co‐create both business value and societal impacts. However, there is a lack of theoretical underpinning to understand how and why co‐creation by actors generate different types of social value in the concurrent pursuit of business and social value. Adopting an inductive case study approach, we find that different types of entrepreneurs who co‐exploit co‐identify opportunities for co‐creation, generate potentially competing social and business values. We develop four propositions relating to how and why profit orientation and key resource contributions of entrepreneurs co‐identifying an opportunity to co‐create decide the nature of social value generated. We discuss avenues for future research and practical implications, underlying the importance of developing entrepreneurialism as ways to generate different social impacts through open innovation approaches, such as co‐creation.     

A theory of joint venture life-cycles

In this paper we provide a dynamic theory of joint venture life cycle that relies on synergy, organisational learning and moral hazard. We demonstrate that depending on parameter values the outcome may involve any one of the following: stable joint venture formation, joint venture formation followed by breakdown, or Cournot competition in all the periods. We also provide some interesting welfare results.     

Influences on Sino-Western joint venture negotiations

This paper attempts to increase the reader's knowledge of the influences present when negotiating in China. The current environment of Sino-Western joint venture (JV) negotiations is examined, and negotiating suggestions resulting from this examination are presented. The paper, the result of the author's research in China in 1987–1989, posits that the major influences on Sino-Western JV negotiations are the ideological and theoretical foundations for such JVs, their history, the problems they experience, and the political, economic, governmental, and cultural contexts of negotiations. The paper's importance lies in two areas: it contributes to the literature on the international transfer of capital and technology, and it provides valuable information to Western firms and individuals who consider entering into JV negotiations in China.     

The determinants of academic spin‐off creation by Italian universities

The aim of this work is to investigate the university level determinants of academic spin‐off (ASO) firm creation in Italy. We are interested in particular in the relationship between university funding and the university propensity to create spin‐offs, and test the effect of public and third‐party funds on this tendency. We estimate the effect of several variables for the characteristics of the university and the context. In contrast to our expectations, results indicate that third‐party funding does not exert an effect on the propensity of the university to generate ASO firms. Similarly, and in contrast to what the literature suggests, scientific productivity, context innovativeness and patenting experience also do not have a positive and significant effect on the propensity to generate spin‐offs. We find that ASO creation is influenced by the amount of public income, by past experience in creating spin‐offs and by the presence of a technology transfer office. This work contributes to our understanding of the differences between Italy and the Anglo‐Saxon countries in relation to the phenomenon of ASO creation and has some important implications for policy.     

The differential impact of ICT on employees: narratives from a hi‐tech organisation

This paper draws upon findings from a case study, which examined the implementation of information and communication technologies within a hi‐tech organisation. It explores how technology became embedded within the organization, altering working practices. It concludes that embedding technology needs to be undertaken at an individual level to be successful.     

New venture departments: Organizing for innovation

A popular approach to managing new business development in a large corporate environment—the New Venture Department— is considered in this article. The author reports on a study of NVDs in 18 companies—discussing why they were, established, ways that they differed and how they evolved over time.     

Key managerial factors in new venture departments

Two clusters of factors —the “corporate strategic posture” and the New Venture Department (NVD) “political posture” — appear to determine the direction of an NVD's evolution. The “corporate strategic posture” refers to the cycles of diversification and consolidation that typically characterize corporate growth. A corporation's “strategic posture” at any given point in time can be positioned on a continuum, one end of which is a “diversifying” posture, while the other end is a “consolidating” posture.     

The future of industrial new venture departments

In the companies studied, the primary reason for “failure” of New Venture Departments (NVDs) did not appear to be ineffectiveness in new business development. An NVD was an effective structure for managing new ventures in many companies. The main reasons NVDs became inoperative were that (1) the corporate strategic situation changed and the NVD was no longer needed, and/or (2) the NVD's political position eroded within the company and it was rejected by the existing power structure. The NVD's performance may be a contributing factor to the erosion of its political position but in many companies there were more important factors such as the NVD's sponsor leaving the company, excessively high expectations generated or the NVD appearing to pose a threat to other divisions.     

海外油田工程技术服务市场继续扩大

2006年全球原油消费需求平稳增长,国际油价高位震荡,促使石油公司大幅度增加油田勘探开发投资,保障原油供给和油气勘探开发的持续发展,结果导致海外油田工程技术服务市场快速膨胀,多数区域市场的各项服务需求扩大,价格上涨,服务公司收入大幅度增加,但同时也造成市场上出现工程技术服务、装备和材料供不应求的紧张局面,项目延期、订单积压、材料短缺等现象十分严重.预计近期海外油田工程技术服务市场的基本状况不会改变,石油公司和服务公司双方会采取措施稳定市场局面,限制价格过快增长.2007年石油公司继续扩大勘探开发投资,海外油田工程技术服务市场上各项服务需求和价格继续增加,但增幅会有明显下降.这种格局会延续今后几年.     

Emotions and new venture judgment in China

A new venture is likely to be perceived as either an opportunity or a risk. People also vary in their subjective judgment of the probability of a new venture’s success. From an affective approach, this study investigates how people’s feelings about the outcomes of a venture affect their subjective judgment on the value and probability of founding a new business. It was found that an entrepreneur’s hope of creating a successful new venture significantly increases the attractiveness and perceived success likelihood of the new venture. Those who show less fear of failure and lower surprise for the success tend to view a new venture as an opportunity. Those who show less anger, regret, and higher contempt of failure and lower surprise of success as well as lower trait sadness judge a higher subjective probability for the success of founding a new firm. These findings reveal entrepreneurs’ initiatives in economic activities. Positive and negative implications are discussed, particularly for entrepreneurial activities in China.     

Strategizing industry structure: the case of open systems in a low‐tech industry

Open systems strategy enables a sponsor to diffuse its technology and promotes standardization in an industry. However, this strategy has been studied in high‐tech settings. We hypothesize that, in a non‐high‐tech industry, a sponsor giving access to its technical knowledge may impact industry structure. Based on a survey of the U.S. tabletop role‐playing game (RPG) industry, our results highlight that the introduction of an open system in a sector creates an entry induction phenomenon and that these new entrants adopt more readily the open system than incumbents. Moreover, the average size of the firms in the industry decreases due to vertical specialization. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.