The impact of alternative operationalizations of industry structural elements on measures of performance for entrepreneurial manufacturing ventures

Using a sample of 115 manufacturing ventures, this study examined elements of industry structure which prior theory and research in the fields of industrial organization economics, strategic management, and entrepreneurship suggest are the most important structural characteristics of industries. Future researchers should carefully select the particular operationalization of industry structure as our research demonstrates that the influence of industry structural elements on measures of firm performance is strongly dependent upon the particular operationalization utilized. In addition, measures of industry structure were found to have a differential impact on alternative measures of firm performance, suggesting that different performance measures are not interchangeable proxies for one another. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The propensity to exit and innovation

In offering an answer to the question, “Who exits and why?”, I introduce a model relating the decision to remain in, or exit from an industry, to conditions of demand and the underlying technology. In particular, I argue that two elements of technology are important — the role of scale economies in an industry and the extent to which the underlying technological information conditions can be characterized by either an entrepreneurial or a routinized regime. Based on the evidence from over 300 U.S. manufacturing industries, I conclude that the process of firm selection and industry evolution tends to conform either to the model of the revolving door, where the bulk of exiting businesses are new entrants, or else the metaphor of the forest, where incumbent establishments tend to be displaced by new entrants.     

The influence of prior industry affiliation on framing in nascent industries: the evolution of digital cameras

New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high uncertainty. In this paper, we explore how a firm's conceptualization of products in this context, as reflected by product feature choices, is influenced by prior industry affiliation. We study digital cameras introduced from 1991–2006 by firms from three prior industries. We hypothesize and find that: (1) prior industry experience shapes a set of shared beliefs that results in similar and concurrent firm behavior; (2) firms notice and imitate the behaviors of firms from the same prior industry; and, (3) as firms gain experience with particular features, the influence of prior industry decreases. This study extends previous research on firm entry into new domains by examining heterogeneity in firms' framing and feature‐level entry choices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leveraging ties: the contingent value of entrepreneurial teams' external advice networks on Indian software venture performance

This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial teams' external networks on their ventures' performance. We first argue that ventures whose entrepreneurial teams span many structural holes in their external advice networks experience higher performance. We then propose that network ties are not uniform in their effect, but rather are contingent on two distinct features of entrepreneurial teams: (i) their strategic consensus—extent of agreement on key goals and strategies within the team—and (ii) internal cohesion—extent of interpersonal friendships within the team. Finally, we propose that team demographics and team networks complement (rather than substitute) each other. Data from Indian software ventures provide support for these arguments. We extend entrepreneurship research by highlighting how venture teams' internal processes and external networks jointly shape performance outcomes. We also add to the literature on team networks by drawing attention to the role of strategic consensus as a distinct pathway through which teams can leverage their external networks.     

Strategy making,novelty and analogical reasoning — commentary on Gavetti,Levinthal, and Rivkin (2005)

This commentary responds to and builds upon a recent article about the role of analogical reasoning in strategy making (Gavetti, Levinthal, and Rivkin, 2005). Based on conceptual and formal analysis, the authors state that in complex and novel contexts, analogical reasoning may be superior to two established models: rational choice and local incremental search. I show that given an alternative conceptualization of the strategy‐making context and main models, analogical reasoning is not necessarily superior. Furthermore, in novel and complex contexts, this model and other approaches such as mental experimentation can play a larger role, particularly in inventing effective strategies. I further extend the analysis by considering some boundary conditions in which analogical reasoning and its alternatives best apply, exploring the idea that blending and adapting several search strategies may be more effective than using only one method, such as analogical reasoning, and advancing new directions for empirical research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Services,industry evolution,and the competitive strategies of product firms

Services of different types have become increasingly important for product firms. While these firms mainly focus on products, managers and researchers lack a comprehensive framework to understand when to make significant investments in particular kinds of services. We identify three categories of product‐related services from a product firm—smoothing and adapting services, which complement products, and substitution services, which enable customers to pay for the use of a product without buying the product itself. We develop propositions about the relative level of these different kinds of services vis‐a‐vis industry evolution, as well as suggest how these services affect industry structure. We draw upon various literatures, though we conclude that the relationship between products and services is more complex and richer than any one literature suggests. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

城镇化背景下中小城市发展路径及对策研究

在现代经济中,城市是经济的重要载体,中小城市是构筑科学、合理的城镇化体系的重要支撑。要实现中小城市城镇化的科学发展,其经济增长方式必须由粗放型向集约型转变。本文基于对中小城市发展的动力机制及影响因素分析,分别从3个方面探索性的提出,城镇化背景下中小城市发展的路径在于：产业优化升级、就业协同增长和城乡统筹发展,并突出强调了产业优化升级的主导作用。     

依托技术创新推动潍坊市纺织业的发展

潍坊市纺织业的技术创新体系尚处于探索阶段,在技术创新过程中仍有许多突出的问题制约着这一活动的开展。本文正是以此为出发点,通过对潍坊市纺织业技术创新存在的问题进行分析,探寻实现技术创新健康发展的对策。     

Heterogeneity in turnover: The effect of relative compensation dispersion of firms on the mobility and entrepreneurship of extreme performers

We explore the strategic implications of firm compensation dispersion on the heterogeneous turnover outcomes of employee mobility and entrepreneurship. We theorize that individuals' turnover decisions are affected by the interaction of individual performance with the firm's compensation dispersion relative to its competitors. We test our theory using linked employer-employee data from the legal services industry. We find that individuals with extreme high performance are less likely to leave firms that offer higher compensation dispersion than competitors, however, if they do leave these employers, they are more likely to create new ventures. In contrast, employees with extreme low performance are more likely to leave firms with more compensation dispersion than competitors, and these individuals are less likely to engage in new venture creation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

我国农药行业技术创新的问题与对策分析

作为有害生物的防治剂,农药可有效控制农林有害生物,保护农业生产。研究我国农药产业行业技术创新的问题,对于政府部门制定促进农药产业发展的政策,具有十分重要的理论意义和实践意义。本文以产业经济理论、可持续发展理论与环境经济学为理论基础,运用历史与逻辑统一、比较研究与实证分析相结合的研究方法,分析了我国农药行业经营环境,指出了农药行业技术创新存在着对技术创新的保护力度不够,销售体系对技术创新的支撑力不强,信息化水平尚待提高等问题,提出了加强销售和服务网络建设,针对不同地区、不同作物配制产品,成立专门的事业部研制生物农药等对策。     

基于生态视角对我国建筑业技术创新的思考

文章提出了基于生态视角来进行建筑业技术创新的概念，分析了基于生态视角的建筑业技术创新对我国建筑业发展的重要性和必要性。从规划设计、施工到建筑物拆除以及创新管理与组织等方面分析了技术创新的内容，并对基于生态观的我国建筑业技术创新提出了建议。     

Real options reasoning and a new look at the R&D investment strategies of pharmaceutical firms

Real options reasoning (ROR) is a conceptual approach to strategic investment that takes into account the value of preserving the right to make future choices under uncertain conditions. In this study, we explore firms' motivations to invest in a new option. We find, based on an analysis of a large sample of patents by firms active in the pharmaceutical industry, that their investments in R&D are consistent with the logic of ROR. We identify three constructs—scope of opportunity, prior experience, and competitive effects—which have an influence on firms' propensity to invest in new R&D options and which could usefully be incorporated in a strategic theory of investment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Knowledge,firm boundaries,and innovation: Mitigating the incumbent's curse during radical technological change

We explore the relationship between a firm's organization and its ability to face a radical technological change. We suggest that, during such a change, the presence of both in‐house upstream knowledge and downstream market linkages, within a firm's boundary, has its advantages. We test our predictions in the context of the robotics industry where manufacturers of mechanically controlled “brawny” robots, which were valued mainly for their payload capacity, faced the advent of electrically controlled “brainy” robots that emphasized accuracy and repeatability. We find that “preadapted” firms—the ones with prior relevant technological knowledge and with access to internal users of “brainy” robots—were the innovation leaders in the emerging new technology but were laggards in the old technology. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Founding conditions and the survival of new firms

We analyze the effects of founding conditions on the survival of new firms. Based on arguments from several theoretical perspectives, namely economics, organizational ecology, and the resource‐based view of the firm, we develop hypotheses that relate the survival of firms to the conditions confronted by firms at each moment and to those prevailing at the time of founding. We develop an empirical model that allows the effects of founding conditions to be transitory and estimate how long such effects last. The results of estimating such a model indicate that founding effects are important determinants of exit rates. Moreover, in most cases, their effect on survival seems to persist with little attenuation for several years following the founding of the firm. Overall, our findings suggest that there is no absolute superiority of any of the aforementioned theoretical perspectives over the others, and there are important elements in all of them to explain the survival of firms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A cross-cultural comparison of the network capability development of entrepreneurial firms

The business-to-business network literature has made interesting and insightful contributions in relation to networks as a core trajectory for external resource acquisition for the small, entrepreneurial firm. Using the micro-brewing industry in Ireland and Belgium as an empirical base, the purpose of this paper is to extend this research through examining the relationship between national culture and the development of network capability in an entrepreneurial context. Findings from in-depth interviews with fourteen firms, and analysed in light of Hofstede's five dimensions illustrate that culture matters. Low power distance facilitated network capability development through wider network engagement. High masculinity and individualism negatively impacted network capability development as evidenced by a lack of experience in interaction, a desire for control and independence and minimal information sharing. Strong uncertainty avoidance scores allowed for joint problem-solving and industry cooperation whereas a short-term orientation led to more transaction-based exchange within the value chain. The core contribution of this paper stems from it being the first rigorous investigation regarding how national culture impacts network capability development in a business-to-business network context.     

高技术产业技术创新能力评价指标体系研究

论述了高技术产业技术创新能力研究的必要性,提出了构建高技术产业技术创新能力评价指标体系应达到的目标和应遵循的原则,并以此目标和原则为指导建立了由3个模块、5个要素、17个指标构成的评价指标体系。     

依靠技术创新 科学发展煤化工产业

兖矿集团20世纪90年代就已进入煤化工领域,在煤化工产业发展领域积累了很多有益的经验。文章介绍了兖矿集团煤化工产业的发展现状、煤化工技术创新的主要成果及其具体实践,提出兖矿集团煤化工产业"十二五"期间的重点技术研发目标。     

Towards a model of dynamic capabilities in innovation-based competitive strategy: Insights from project-oriented service firms

With the growing significance of services in most developed economies, there is an increased interest in the role of service innovation in service firm competitive strategy. Despite growing literature on service innovation, it remains fragmented reflecting the need for a model that captures key antecedents driving the service innovation-based competitive advantage process. Building on extant literature and using thirteen in-depth interviews with CEOs of project-oriented service firms, this paper presents a model of innovation-based competitive advantage. The emergent model suggests that entrepreneurial service firms pursuing innovation carefully select and use dynamic capabilities that enable them to achieve greater innovation and sustained competitive advantage. Our findings indicate that firms purposefully use create, extend and modify processes to build and nurture key dynamic capabilities. The paper presents a set of theoretical propositions to guide future research. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Finally, directions for future research are outlined.     

跨国化工公司的技术创新及其经济业绩

分析世界上若干著名跨国化工公司的科研、经营、发展状况,阐述了跨国化工公司的技术创新与其经济业绩的关系。     

The effect of governance modes and relatedness of external business development activities on innovative performance

This study examines how different governance modes for external business development activities and venture relatedness affect a firm's innovative performance. Building on research suggesting that interorganizational relationships enhance the innovative performance of firms, we propose that governance modes and venture relatedness interact in their effect on innovative performance. Analyzing a panel of the largest firms in four information and communication technology sectors, we find that degree of relatedness for corporate venture capital investments, alliances, joint ventures, and acquisitions influences their impact on innovative performance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.