Strategic alliances between large and small research intensive organizations: experiences in the biotechnology industry

Abstract
For many firms, entering into some form of collaborative arrangement with other organizations has become a necessary step towards improving their competitive positions. This is particularly true of research intensive companies which frequently participate in such strategic alliances (SAs). This paper reports on the experiences of some 70 North American firms with SAs in the biotechnology industry. The sample includes small dedicated biotechnology companies (DBCs) and large organizations, such as pharmaceutical firms.     

Motivations and obstacles to university industry cooperation (UIC): a Mexican case

Within the context of linkage between universities and the productive sector in Mexico, this article seeks to answer the following questions: i) which are the principal motivations for researchers at universities to carry out technological research and to seek ties to industry? ii) which are the main motivations for industrial entrepreneurs to establish cooperation with universities to develop technology? and iii) which are the main barriers to a healthy relationship between both institutions? Our answers are based on data from two sources: (a) an exploratory survey of 31 researchers at the National University of Mexico and of 28 Mexican entrepreneurs, half of whom had previous experience in collaborative projects; and, (b) a subsequent panel discussion among questionnaire respondents designed to elicit in-depth qualitative data concerning motivations and obstacles to university-industry cooperation. The authors present the factors identified in the study as key elements in the development of liaisons between the two sectors in Latin American countries, and argue the need to rethink our conceptions of motivations and barriers within a theoretical framework of interinstitutional communications and organizational cultural change.     

Protection, promotion and cooperation in the European semiconductor industry

EC Member States' national champion policies of the 1970s were not successful in developing firms that led in their home markets, and the corresponding EC policies of the 1980s (many of which encouraged inter-European strategic alliances) were not successful in developing firms that led in the European market. Using strategies that involve world-wide cooperation, European firms are beginning to carve out secure places for themselves in what is now a world market. Joint ventures have been critical in bringing European firms up to world performance levels, but extra-European as well as intra-European cooperation has been essential.     

Interfirm cooperation and structural change in the European automobile industry

The past quarter-century has seen the rapid growth of interfirm cooperative arrangements, on a global scale. In the automobile industry, the forms of cooperation have ranged from mergers and acquisitions, with each partner firm retaining its corporate identity and brand name, to very informal strategic partnerships. Because of its past fragmentation, the consolidation of the European industry into “producer groups” has been a main feature of structural change. Arguably, this development and the formation of rent-seeking coalitions within the European Union were of greater significance than companies' purely technology-oriented cooperative ventures. As a result of the industry members' individual and collective rent-seeking, at the national and EU levels respectively, large price disparities among national markets have persisted. Regulatory barriers as well as the noncompetitive behavior of firms continue greatly to influence the automotive sector, despite the Union's ambitious vision of “Europe 92” as the final stage in the development of an open market for products and factors. Whatever benefits automobile producers may have derived from integration, it has done little so far to enhance consumer welfare.     

Wheat in the world food economy: Increasing role in developing countries

Wheat is the oldest and most important of the cereal grains in world food supply. In the last two decades the role of wheat in the world food economy has increased substantially, especially in the developing world. This article describes and analyses the role of wheat and highlights and interprets changes that have occurred in the last two decades of rapid change. The authors analyse, in turn, trends in production, consumption, trade and prices with special emphasis on the developing countries.¹ Finally, the authors speculate on how these trends are likely to be effected by future events.     

Innovation in the functional foods industry in a peripheral region of the European Union: Andalusia (Spain)

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the relationship between public sector research and industrial development in the functional foods sector in a peripheral region of the European Union: Andalusia (Spain). Results show that the innovation system and its component parts have made a qualitative and quantitative leap forward in the last decade, which means that the gap is diminishing compared to similar regions in the European Union, mainly due to a relatively intense effort from the public research sector. In order to take advantage of the potential of the Andalusian region, the public authorities will have to focus their efforts and funds on fostering relations between regional social players that lead to the creation of durable links; increasing the entrepreneurial spirit of university students/researchers; promoting and improving the quantity and quality of international excellence research groups; and stimulating the creation of scientific and technological parks where spin-off companies can contribute to increasing wealth and employment in the region.     

劳动力流动与产业组织变化的互动关系研究——以中国汽车产业为例

国内外理论界对劳动力流动和产业组织变化的研究，长期以来主要是沿单一线路推进——要么主要研究劳动力流动问题、要么主要研究产业组织变化问题。而很少有学者对两者之间的互动关系进行深入研究。本文以中国汽车产业为分析对象．运用实证方法对劳动力流动与产业组织变化的互动关系进行了研究．分析了两者之间的互相影响效应．提炼、归纳出了一些具有规律性的新结论。论文最后从新的角度分析了中国汽车产业组织结构欠优化、劳动力配置不合理的成因．并提出了解决问题的对策建议。     

Competitive behavior in the European mobile telecommunications industry: Pioneers vs. followers

This paper studies the relationship between competitive strategy and improvement in the competitive position of pioneers and followers in the mobile telecommunications industry. The analysis uses a panel of data comprising all the actions of European firms operating in the digital mobile telecommunications industry with GSM 900 and/or DCS 1800 networks. The results show that competitors gain market share when they follow competitive strategies that are different from those of other firms. The paper also finds that price reduction actions represent the best approach for followers, while differentiation actions are the most effective strategy for pioneers.     

Economic Geography and Business Networks: Creating a Dialogue between Disciplines: An Introduction to the Special Issue

This introductory article presents an outline of the papers accepted for this special issue. The Guest Editors provide an overview of the work within industrial marketing where synthesis between economic geography and industrial marketing literature has occurred. A discussion of the most synthesised areas of economic geography is advanced and each article is then discussed, compared and contrasted with other articles in the special issue and with articles within industrial marketing that have previously synthesized concepts drawn from economic geography. Within this narrative, the Guest Editor’s propose an agenda for future interdisciplinary research at what they refer to as the ‘nexus of interest’ between the disciplines.     

欧洲主要国家药品定价和补偿制度的比较分析

通过比较分析的方法深入探讨欧洲各主要国家药品定价和补偿制度的特点以及经济学评价的应用情况。如何评价新药的创新性已成为各国政府在规制药品市场时共同面临的关键性问题,而与创新水平评价密切相关的带有“双重定价”意味的定价体制值得我国政府在平衡控制药品费用和激发医药产业创新实力这一矛盾时借鉴学习。     

Economic Integration and State Responses: Change in European Industrial Relations since Maastricht

The article analyses industrial relations change in the six largest EU countries since 1992 in relation to increased internationalization pressures. Based on qualitative and quantitative analysis, it distinguishes between associational and state governance, and detects that despite a predominant, but not universal, trend of weakening trade unions and collective bargaining, no overall liberalization has occurred in the political regulation of employment (employment policies, welfare state, labour law, state support to collective bargaining, public sector). Rather than converging towards neoliberalism, industrial relations emerge as more politically contingent and dependent on multiple forms of power, which are affected by internationalization in different ways.     

Improving engineering skills in high school students: a partnership between university and K-12 teachers

The level of science skills in Spanish students are significantly below the average of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and university teachers agree that the level of freshmen students’ skills is too low. Moreover, the number of engineering enrollments has been declining in recent years. The purpose of this study is to improve both the level of knowledge and skills of students upon entrance into engineering programs and their general opinion about engineering studies. The aim is to establish the importance of proper coordination between groups involved in the overall educational process and to avoid, at least in part, the decline in recent engineering enrollments. The project had the following four phases: (1) determination of the freshmen’s weakest concepts; (2) assessment of high schools students’ knowledge; (3) development of educational activities; and (4) re-assessment of high school students. These measures were complemented with the high school teachers’ opinions about the students improvements and analyses of the evolution of engineering enrollments. Most of the participants significantly improved their knowledge and skills. Similarly, high school teachers believed that the attitude of the students toward engineering improved significantly.     

Strategic focus of incumbents in the European telecommunications industry: The cases of BT,Deutsche Telekom and KPN

This study investigates the internal and external strategic choices that telecommunications firms, operating in a dynamic network environment, make to adapt to changes and to respond quickly in order to create or to sustain their competitive advantage. In particular, in the European telecommunications industry incumbent firms have faced important challenges from new technologies, liberalization and the convergence of markets. The leading European telecommunications companies initially focused on new markets and new businesses, emphasizing their plans to become major players in relevant markets. However, after the telecommunications euphoria companies were more restrained due to their huge burden of debt and their market value. Through refocusing or restructuring, these companies have tried to streamline their businesses in order to restore their value and to improve their competitiveness. Insight into the specific strategic actions of traditional telecommunications companies in Europe to the recent developments in the industry is provided from the analysis of three leading traditional telecommunications companies: BT, Deutsche Telekom and KPN.     

The potential benefits of herbicide-resistant transgenic rice in Uruguay: Lessons for small developing countries

In many developing countries, the potential benefits from adopting a transgenic variety developed by a multinational corporation are limited by the crop’s small production base. This paper presents an ex-ante evaluation of the economic impact of herbicide resistant transgenic rice in a small developing country, Uruguay. To fully account for the multinational’s market power, the firm’s seed markup is assumed to affect the adoption rate for the variety. Stochastic simulation techniques are employed to understand how potential benefits may vary with changes in technology, yield, costs, and adoption parameters. The results indicate a $1.82 million mean net present value for producers from the development and utilization of transgenic rice in Uruguay and $0.55 million for the multinational. These relatively small multinational firm benefits suggest that a firm will not undertake significant efforts to develop transgenic varieties adapted to local conditions without either strategic partnerships with local institutions or access to wider regional markets.     

The role of antitrust in a small open economy: The Commerce Act in New Zealand

This paper reviews the New Zealand antitrust regime represented by the Commerce Act 1986. The context is a rapidly liberalising, small open economy with light-handed regulation. New Zealand antitrust draws on recent US microeconomics for its underlying economic principles, but more on the Australian Trade Practices Act for its legal framework. The influences of these and other countries on the operation of New Zealand antitrust are traced through precedent and an analysis of major cases. Increasingly interpretations have differed from those in Australia, with more weight being put on the promotion of efficiency and less on traditional competition objectives.I acknowledge the assistance of G. Connors, J. Feil, D. Round, G. Sellens and M. Malan. The views expressed are those of the author, and not the institutions with which he is associated.     

日本大阪大学上演人与机器人合演话剧

日本剧作家、大阪大学教授平田ORIZA等创作的由机器人与人合演的话剧作品于11月25日在大阪大学校园内上演。话剧名为《工作的我》,长约20分钟。描述了“两名”帮助做家务机器人与一对人类夫妇共同生活,其中一个机器人失去工作意欲,周围感到困惑。夫妇为让机器人打起精神而操心,机器人间的“人类真难啊”对话引起了观众的笑声。     

A study of the textile industry and trade in Europe: An account of the methods and problems of carrying out a study of the European textile scene

The Technical Economy Department of the Shirley Institute has carried out a detailed study of the textile industries in Germany, France and Italy, their production, trade, productivity, industrial structure and regional policy. In some areas, performance has been compared with that of the U.K. An account is given of the approach, methods and problems encountered in the gathering of the necessary data.     

A study of the textile industry and trade in Europe: An account of the methods and problems of carrying out a study of the European textile scene

The Technical Economy Department of the Shirley Institute has carried out a detailed study of the textile industries in Germany, France and Italy, their production, trade, productivity, industrial structure and regional policy. In some areas, performance has been compared with that of the U.K. An account is given of the approach, methods and problems encountered in the gathering of the necessary data.     

International trade and world food security : The role of developed countries since the World Food Conference

No mechanism is in place for the international coordination of grain stocks. World market stability is largely dependent upon the actions of major grain trading countries. These countries have avoided the exportation of their domestic supply variations onto world markets over the past decade, but have been reluctant to allow domestic consumption to respond to world shortages and surpluses. Improvement in the sensitivity of domestic storage and consumption to world conditions could increase their contribution to world food security.