Innovation strategy of local pharmaceutical firms in Korea: a multivariate analysis

This article examines 37 local pharamaceutical firms in Korea to identify different patterns of innovation behaviour associated with four types of firms, which are categorized by two variables: the scale of operation and technological capability. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses support the hypotheses that these four types of firms exhibit different innovation strategies and in turn the level of performance they achieved. Specifically, large firms with high technological capability diversify their efforts, investing in their own R & D and tapping foreign capabilities, and as a result exhibit the highest degree of innovativeness, while large firms with low technological capability resort primarily to the transfer of foreign technology for short-term profitability. In contrast, small firms with high technological capability rely mainly on their own R & D efforts with the assistance from local R & D institutes and enjoy the highest growth rate, whereas small firms with low technological capability imitate technologically low-grade products by hiring experienced technical personnel from other firms. There are also fragmented indications that many local firms have long evolved from small firms with low capability to large firms with high capability. Finally, managerial and theoretical implications for the innovation strategies in LDCs/NICsE are discussed.     

Measuring and Explaining Innovative Capability: Evidence from Southeast Asia

What causes firm‐level product innovation in developing economies? This paper answers this question by emphasizing the role of process improvements that are influential in product innovation. We construct a firm‐level innovative capability score using novel, broad‐based, but detailed data on various process improvement practices obtained from firms in Southeast Asia. We then investigate the factors that may affect innovative capability. We also estimate the effect of the innovative capability score on product innovation controlling for research and development intensity and other firm characteristics. Our empirical investigation identifies a chief executive officer (CEO)'s past experience at a foreign or large firm, and buyer pressure to adopt international standards as key determinants of innovative capability. Novel and unique findings from our examination include: (i) the impact of a CEO's past experience at a foreign or large firm on the innovative capability is larger for local enterprises and small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises; (ii) the impact of share of foreign workers in the upper managerial levels only appears to be significant in foreign firms and larger firms; and (iii) buyer pressure is a more likely contributor to innovative capability compared with capital tie‐ups with multinational enterprises or joint venture buyers that capture vertical technology transfers. Finally, our empirical results show that a firm in Southeast Asia is more likely to achieve product innovation if the firm has had a higher innovative capability.     

外资研发与本地高技术企业创新能力间的关系——基于技术溢出的视角

将行业对外资开放程度、内外资企业间技术差距和本地企业的技术吸收能力纳入研究框架,利用1995—2010年我国13个高技术产业子行业的数据,建立动态面板数据模型,实证分析了外资研发的技术溢出与本地企业的创新能力之间的关系。结果表明:外资研发的技术溢出对本地企业的创新能力产生显著的正向影响,但与本地企业的自主创新投入相比,其影响相对较小;较高的外资开放度和较大的技术差距都会对外资研发的技术溢出产生不利影响,但外资研发的技术溢出是否存在主要取决于本地企业的吸收能力。     

知识溢出支撑集群企业创新跨越研究

培育集群企业技术创新能力是产业集群竞争优势的主要表现形式,而企业是集群中最活跃的行为主体,单个企业的技术创新能力在很大程度上反映了一个集群的技术创新能力.知识溢出、集群企业吸收能力是产业集群创新的关键要素.首先对集群企业技术创新能力、知识溢出、集群企业吸收能力的相关文献进行了综述,在此基础上归纳本文的研究要素,明确要素之间的逻辑关系;针对当前集群企业的现实,从吸收能力视角提出了知识溢出支撑集群企业技术创新能力跨越的理论分析框架,并从隐性知识、显性知识、吸收能力与集群企业技术创新能力跨越进行了分析,知识溢出对集群企业提升技术创新能力具有促进作用,而这种促进作用的大小受到集群企业本身吸收能力影响,即吸收能力增强了知识溢出对集群企业技术创新能力的促进作用.     

Learning tomanage innovation

Technological innovation is widely accepted to be a complex learning proces through which firms try to acquire and develop distinctive technological competence. But there is a second dimension to such learning which relates to the ways in which the innovation process is managed, which also involves a developmental, cumulative progress. No all firms have the same level of skill in managing projects, in understanding user needs, in search behaviour, in managing inter-fin relationship, etc.; these are all abilities which are learned over time. This paper reviews the concept of capability development as it applies to the management of technological innovation. It illustrates this with the example of continuous improvement (CI)—a key capability which is associated with high levels of involvement in the innovation process through the contribution of regular incremental improvement ideas from a large proportion of th workforce. CI is a simple concept bus is proving very difficult to implement successful in practice; arguably, this is because it involves extensive learning and adaptation. In exploring this issue the paper draws upon the results of a 5-year empirical study into the adoption and implementation of CI within European enterprises. The paper concludes with some comments on the process of 'learning to learn' and argues that managing this process is a key component of strategic technology management.     

Discontinuous innovation capability accumulation in latecomer natural resource-processing firms

Most of the studies that describe the building of innovation capability in emerging and developing economies have focused on the ways in which latecomer firms develop continuously towards advanced capability levels along existing technological trajectories, particularly for the assembled products industries, especially in Asia. A slightly different approach is adopted herein by focusing on pathways of discontinuous capability building of firms in natural resource-processing industries. By drawing on evidence from a variety of case studies taken from 13 forestry, pulp, and paper firms in Brazil in the period 1950-2007, it was found that: (1) in contrast with the majority of case studies reported in the literature, the pathways followed by firms in their accumulation of innovation capability involved a qualitative departure from the established technological trajectory at an early stage in the development of their capability; (2) the pathways of firms along the new technological trajectories were nevertheless characterised by a high degree of variability (from intermediate to world leading innovators) in terms of the levels and speeds of the accumulation of innovation capability; (3) firms that have attained progressively higher levels of innovative performance have more rapidly developed a combination of internal and external research-based arrangements in order to undertake increasingly complex, but firm-centred innovation efforts. This paper sheds some light on some of the discussions that relate to the role of natural resources in the patterns of industrial progress and growth in those countries endowed with particular natural resource-based industries. It also provides a methodological contribution to the study of the long-term innovation strategies that make use of the dynamics of capability building, especially within natural resource-processing industries.     

HIGH‐TECH AND HIGH CAPABILITY IN A GROWTH MODEL*

A growth model is developed to substantiate the conventional wisdom that regards high‐tech high‐capability firms as an engine of sustained technological progress. High‐tech industries are characterized by abounding technological opportunities, which promote endogenous high capability firms due to a competitive escalation mechanism. While high‐tech high‐capability firms capitalize on and discharge the existing innovation potentials, they also contribute to recharge (due to knowledge spillovers). They are a source of growth and high wage rate. An inquiry into the reasons why the high‐tech/high‐capability growth mechanism is not widely adoptable across countries points to the role of the underlying corporate governance systems.     

Technological capabilities accumulation and internationalization strategies of Mexican biotech firms: a multi case study from agro-food & pharma industries

ABSTRACT

In this paper our aim is to analyze the relationship between technological capabilities accumulation of Mexican biotech firms and their different types of internationalization strategies. Because of the determining effect of firms’ capital investment level, we analyzed three groups of firms: start-ups, small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) and multinational firms (MNEs). We made use of a wide range of information: The First Survey of Biotechnology Development Firms in Mexico, the systematization of 20 case studies, interviews with key persons in the industry and public sources. We confirmed the two hypotheses outlined: (i) TCA process does not follow a linear path in Mexican biotech firms and (ii) firms with lower capital investment levels exhibit a lower level of TCA and less complex internationalization strategies; while firms with higher capital investment levels are associated with higher TCA levels and more complex internationalization strategies. Biotechnology requires high levels of capital investment and these to a large extent determine the development and technological capabilities accumulation. Therefore, we suggest that a capitalization program is much needed to foster Mexican biotech firms’ TCA processes and develop internationalization strategies.     

Innovative performance with interactions between technological proximity and geographic proximity: evidence from China electronics patents

A lot of researches have shown that geographic proximity and technological proximity influence firms’ innovative performance. Little work has been done to explore how technological proximity interacts with geographic proximity. Using the theories of recombinant innovation and economic geography, this study develops and tests a theory of how firms’ abilities to reap local benefits and generate innovation are influenced by technological features. Data on technological and geographic proximity of the top 100 firms in China’s electronics industry from 1985 to 2012 are used to test the hypotheses. This study shows that, for a firm with high geographic proximity or located in a dense area of R&D, a low technological proximity in the industry facilitates the process of recombinant innovation.     

Does foreign technology transfer spur domestic innovation? Evidence from the high-speed rail sector in China

This paper investigates the introduction of high-speed railway (HSR) technology into China to study the local impacts of foreign technology transfer. The large-scale technology transfer project, covering specific technological categories and directly benefiting railway-related firms in various cities, enables us to describe how foreign technology is digested and spurs follow-up innovation in firms apart from directly receiving ones. We find that technology transfer generates significant localized spillovers to nearby firms not only in terms of more patents, but also as higher productivity and revenue growth. Moreover, technological similarity, rather than input-output linkages, plays a dominant role in explaining the knowledge spillover both at the firm level and the aggregate level, which indicates the importance of absorptive capacity in digesting foreign technologies. Overall, our paper sheds new light on the innovation policy of developing countries as well as the global business strategy of multinational corporations (MNCs).     

技术引进影响自主创新能力的实证检验

国际技术扩散是影响本地企业技术创新能力的重要途径。利用2003-2008年区域面板数据,实证检验不同类型的国际技术扩散对我国内资企业技术创新能力的影响,结果表明:竞争效应和外资研发溢出效应对我国低层次技术创新能力具有显著的正向作用,对高层次技术创新能力没有显著作用;外资企业生产本地化程度反映的模仿效应对我国内资企业高层次技术创新能力具有显著的正向作用,对低层次技术创新能力没有显著影响;购买国外技术对我国内资企业各个层次的技术创新能力具有显著的正向作用,但是对高层次技术创新能力的促进作用小于对低层次技术创新能力的促进作用。     

Indigenous technological capabilities,emerging market firms and the aerospace industry

While emerging market economies have developed significant technological capabilities and increased their share of global value-added in aerospace, they have done so largely through utilising foreign direct investment (FDI) and offset arrangements to enter supply chains that remain dominated by European and American firms. The paper examines whether emerging markets are developing indigenous technological capability in aerospace technologies. Drawing on patent data from the Thomson Innovation database, the study seeks to understand whether anchor tenant capability is indeed forming in emerging markets. A tech-mining method is applied. The study suggests that China, in particular, has dramatically increased its innovative capacity in the area. However, the data also demonstrate the significant advantages enjoyed by incumbent firms from Europe and the USA, suggesting that the complexity of aircraft R&D remains a formidable barrier that can only be surmounted by determined government policies and anchor firms equipped with substantial innovation capabilities.     

R&D Investments, Information and Strategy

This paper argues that firms can best realize the value of their investments in R&D by exploiting the associated information asymmetries. Attention is directed away from the physical results of R&D and towards the firm's ability, more generally, to earn rents from the private information emanating from its R&D. Four strategies may be used to exploit the information asymmetries from R&D: (1) publish the details of the innovation in return for legal protection; (2) keep the information inside the firm; (3) make the information selectively, informally available to others; and (4) disseminate the information as widely and rapidly as possible. To implement these strategies, resources may be allocated both to the commercial development of new technologies, and/or to related market opportunities (investing in other companies, assets and technologies). Of critical importance are the innovator's own skills and resources in effectively gathering, understanding, and commercially exploiting R&D-generated information asymmetries, both internally and in relation to other firms. This study should yield new insights to managers in designing strategies (and counter-strategies) to position themselves not only at the technological edge, but more fundamentally, at the 'information edge'.     

To innovate or to transfer?

FDI has been considered by many development economists as an important channel for transfer of technology to developing countries. It is suggested that modern, advanced technologies introduced by multinational firms can diffuse to domestic firms through spillovers. In this paper, we study innovation and technology transfer activities of domestic and foreign firms in Turkish manufacturing industries, and the impact of horizontal, vertical and labor spillovers on these activities. Our analysis shows that foreign firms are more innovative than their domestic counterparts, and transfer technology from abroad (mostly from their parent companies). Horizontal spillovers from foreign firms seem to be insignificant. The effects of foreign firms on technological activities of other firms in vertically related industries are ambiguous. High-tech suppliers tend to have a high rate of innovation when the share of foreign users is high, but the opposite is true for users: high-tech users supplied mainly by foreign firms tend to have a lower rate of innovation. Labor turnover is found to be the main channel of spillovers. Our findings reiterate the importance of tacitness of knowledge, and confirm that technology cannot easily be transferred through passive mechanisms.     

Coupling relationships and synergistic mechanisms between technology management capability and technological capability in product innovation: a simulation study

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the dynamic co-evolution of technology management capability and technological capability in the system of product innovation. It is motivated by the increasing attention that product innovation has received recently, as it is considered one of the most important factors that can bring about competitive advantages for firms to compete with their rivals in the current competitive business environment. Framing the system of product innovation as a complex adaptive system and focusing on the roles of technology management capability and technological capability in the system, the most suitable synergistic mechanisms between technology management capability and technological capability that can make the system reach the highest fitness under their diverse coupling relationships are identified by means of NK fitness landscape model. The simulation results show that there are matches between the coupling relationships among the elements of technology management capability and technological capability and their synergistic mechanisms in the system of product innovation. This paper provides a better understanding of the relationships between technology management capability and technological capability and managerial implications for firms to innovate products successfully and promptly and thus improve their competitive advantages.     

企业创新倾向、吸收能力与跨界技术并购创新绩效—— 一项模糊集定性比较分析

在吸收理论的基础上，结合行业技术环境和企业双元创新倾向，提出跨界技术并购企业创新绩效实现机制的整合性分析框架，并使用fsQCA对107个上市公司跨界技术并购案例进行构型研究。结果发现，在高创新绩效构型中，主并企业创新倾向与吸收能力不同维度间存在差异化匹配关系；企业潜在吸收能力与现实吸收能力间具有一定的替代关系，技术基础广度和吸收转化投入强度对于创新绩效提高相对重要；丰富的外部技术资源更有助于创新绩效提升。研究结论拓展了吸收能力理论，丰富了跨界技术并购领域实证证据，可为不同特征企业制定跨界技术并购决策提供参考依据。     

Foreign subsidiaries as a channel of international technology diffusion: Some direct firm level evidence from Belgium

The use of foreign direct investment as a channel of international spillovers is by now fairly established in the empirical literature on innovation and growth. It is often argued that subsidiaries of foreign multinational enterprises are a mechanism through which technological know-how flows across borders. For foreign subsidiaries to be channels of international spillovers, these subsidiaries need to source know-how internationally and transfer their know-how to the local economy. Using direct firm level evidence from the Belgian Community Innovation Survey on the occurrence of technology transfers, we find that foreign subsidiaries are indeed more likely to acquire technology internationally. But after controlling for the superior access to the international technology market that foreign subsidiaries enjoy, we find that these firms are not more likely to transfer technology to the local economy as compared to local firms.     

Asymmetric knowledge flows and localization with endogenous R&D: A dynamic analysis

Empirical evidence suggests that technological spillovers also depend on the mode chosen by firms to serve the foreign market, since a closer location increases the degree of knowledge transmission. Therefore multinationals may want to locate subsidiaries near sources of technological innovation and domestic firms may take advantage of this closer location by absorbing more easily technological knowledge. Within this context we analyse the interaction between firms' international strategy and innovative performance by using a dynamic oligopoly model where knowledge flows increase with geographical proximity. Our results illustrate the relationship between firms' innovation and foreign expansion strategy when localized spillovers are considered.     

市场化进程、国企改革策略与公司治理结构的内生决定

本文以2001年至2003年间中国地方政府控制的上市公司为对象,考察了各地区市场化进程差异以及中央政府基于公司规模和行业特征采取的"抓大放小"和"战略调整"的国企改革策略对公司最终控制人政府级别、政府持股比例以及政府持股方式的影响。研究发现:在市场化进程越快的地区,上市公司更可能由低级别地方政府控制、政府持有股权比例更低;并且,大规模公司、管制性行业公司更可能由高级别地方政府控制、政府持有股权比例更高。但在政府持股方式上,市场化进程的影响并不稳定,而大规模公司由政府直接持股的可能性更小,并且管制性行业与非管制性行业公司无显著区别。这些结果表明,地区市场化进程以及中央政府采取的国企改革策略对公司治理结构的形成具有重要影响(主要体现在政府级别和持股比例上)——地区市场化进程减轻了地方政府控制公司的经济动机,而国企改革策略使得地方政府具有控制大规模公司和管制性行业公司的政治动机。上述结论在剔除深圳和上海地区公司以减轻样本特殊性问题、采用工具变量法以减轻内生性问题以及一系列稳健性检验后仍成立。     

技术性贸易措施下出口企业被动创新效应

技术性贸易措施虽然对出口国有显著负面影响,但同时也会迫使出口企业投资研发,产生被动创新效应。当创新的预期收益大于创新研发的一次性投入时,出口企业就会以研发投资的创新来应对国外技术性贸易措施。进口国技术性贸易措施越不苛刻,同时出口企业初始产品质量越好,出口企业定价能力越强,出口企业越倾向于选择被动性创新投资策略。