The growth of small high-tech firms: destinies and destinations of Innovation Centre 'graduates'

Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to the activity of innovation or technology centres and to their role in nurturing small firms. There is relatively little systematic evidence on the survival and performance of such firms, either during or after their tenancy of these centres. This article reports the preliminary findings of a survey of over fifty companies which 'graduated' from St John's Innovation Centre in Cambridge over the first eight years of its existence.     

A comparison of marketing approaches used by high-tech firms: 1985 versus 2001

The authors present a follow-up to a study conducted in 1985 that investigates the use of marketing approaches used by high-tech firms. The firms were surveyed to determine if their use of marketing approaches has changed. The 2001 study confirms the emergence of Web-based marketing approaches as of particular importance to high-tech firms. The findings should serve as a reference for practitioners to assess their marketing efforts and to evaluate the change in tactics used to market high-tech firms.     

Technological communities and the diffusion of knowledge

The external acquisition of technological knowledge is a central theme in research on technology management. In this paper it is argued that technological communities may provide a useful unit of analysis to study information and knowledge exchange among scientists and engineers working on a particular research agenda. Based on a worldwide survey of more than 700 individuals engaged in the research and development of neural network technology, the dynamics within that particular community are explored. The primary focus is to compare the characteristics of academic and industrial researchers, with special attention given to the timing of their entry into the field.     

Best new product development and management practices in the Korean high-tech industry

This paper investigates critical factors affecting the likelihood of new product success and effective new product development (NPD) models for Korean high-tech firms. Empirical results suggest that successful projects differ from unsuccessful projects in project environment, skills and resources, project leadership, strategic fit, efficient NPD process, and effective product-positioning strategies.This study confirmed that efficient and effective new product development and management were important determinants of high-tech firms' competitive advantage. Furthermore, the findings of this study raised questions about some commonly held beliefs when compared with Western studies focusing on high-tech industries.     

Technological communities and the diffusion of knowledge: a replication and validation

In a previous paper, we have argued that technological communities provide a useful level of analysis to examine information and knowledge flows among researchers. Based on an international survey of more than 700 scientists and engineers engaged in the development of neural network technology, the information and knowledge exchange patterns of two important subsets of that particular technological community, i.e. academic researchers and industrial researchers, were explored. The analyses demonstrated that industrial researchers, even if they are more commercially oriented than their colleagues in academia, recognise the professional community as a relevant locus of information and knowledge. An obvious methodological need exists, though, to generalize beyond the neural networks community. This is the aim of the present paper. Based on questionnaire surveys of researchers belonging to two other technological communities, the empirical results from the neural network community study are replicated and, to a large extent, validated.     

How does slack affect product innovation in high-tech Chinese firms: The contingent value of entrepreneurial orientation

Innovation scholars are interested in how slack affects product innovation in high-tech Chinese firms. We highlight that slack–innovation linkages may differ depending on whether slack is absorbed or unabsorbed, and argue that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) moderates the slack–innovation connection. Our empirical study of 308 high-tech Chinese firms suggests that unabsorbed slack is more strongly positively related with product innovation than is absorbed slack in high-tech settings. Meanwhile, firms with high levels of EO enjoy better effects between unabsorbed slack and innovation, but worse effects between absorbed slack and innovation. We also provide theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research.     

The diffusion of an organizational innovation: International data telecommunications and multinational industrial firms

The paper analyses the structural and technological determinants of the diffusion of international data network as a major technological and organizational innovation in a sample of 40 U.S. and European multinational firms in the period 1963–1980. According to the results faster adopters appeared to be large U.S. firms, exposed to worldwide competition, with inhouse telecommunication skills. Smaller European firms adopted the technology later, often pushed by the provision of ad hoc technical solutions by service and hardware marketing firms. Smaller latecomers with centralized management structures were, however, quicker in the diffusion process. Both in the interfirm and intrafirm diffusion ‘implicit knowledge’ was a more effective factor than R–D intensity.     

Industrial marketing firms and knowledge transfer: Toward a basic typology of community structures

Industrial firm boundaries are dynamic, changing with every new alliance or acquisition. As boundaries evolve, managers must develop organizational structures that effectively leverage knowledge. This paper presents and explains the analytical foundation of a typology of community structures, featuring the basic structures of Crew, Séance, and Guru. This typology is applied to three examples of knowledge transfer in industrial marketing. A competence exploitation example examines knowledge transfer between a firm and a subsidiary established primarily for increasing existing product sales in a new market. A competence creation example examines the community structures for utilizing the product and market knowledge of a subsidiary to benefit the firm's new product development decisions. The final example examines the “tech vs. touch” tradeoffs in interpersonal communication and knowledge transfer. The back-to-basics typology of community structures helps stimulate strategic thinking, and facilitates future explorations of knowledge management in industrial marketing.     

Outsourcing reverse logistics of high-tech manufacturing firms by using a systematic decision-making approach: TFT-LCD sector in Taiwan

Reverse logistics are increasingly crucial for the supply chain strategy of global high-tech manufacturing firms. As reverse logistics operations are significantly more complex than traditional manufacturing supply chains, many high-tech manufacturers are examining the feasibility of outsourcing reverse logistics activities to third party logistics providers (3PLs) from a strategic planning perspective. Internal resources and capabilities are thus examined from a resource-based perspective to identify which reverse logistics service requirements could be fulfilled in-house or outsourced. Therefore, this work presents a systematic approach using the analytical network process (ANP) not only to investigate the relative importance of reverse logistics service requirements, but also to select an appropriate 3PL. Empirical results based on the case of the TFT-LCD sector in Taiwan indicate that information technology management is of priority concern in reverse logistics services. In addition to providing a valuable reference for manufacturers concerned with service requirements for outsourcing, results of this study significantly contribute to the efforts of 3PLs in evaluating whether they comply with potential customer requirements based on their service capabilities.     

Cluster and performance in foreign firms: The role of resources, knowledge, and trust

Clustering, the grouping of firms in close geographic proximity to one another, can enhance the performance of affiliated firms by providing access to complementary resources. Despite that some studies have produced empirical evidence supporting the positive impact of clustering, other studies have found no such evidence. Consequently, the consideration of clustering alone to explain differences in firm performance may be insufficient. This study seeks to determine whether the enhancement of firm performance comes as a consequence of clustering at the location level, interorganizational trust at the relationship level, or resource and knowledge management (i.e., the mechanisms of system dependence) at the firm level. Examining a sample group of Taiwanese manufacturers investing in China, we find that interorganizational trust, resources, and the mechanisms of system dependence all have a positive impact on performance. Further, we find that resources interact with clustering to positively impact firm performance.     

An econometric approach for evaluating the linkages between broadband and knowledge intensive firms

In addition to highlighting improvements in the availability and speed of broadband as a national priority, the National Broadband Plan also includes several recommendations for improving access and use of broadband by small businesses. The plan also recommends economic development officials include broadband in their local development strategies. While these are certainly import goals, more research is needed to evaluate how broadband impacts the regional business environment, and regional capacity to retain and attract businesses in particular industries. In order to further our understanding about the linkages between broadband and businesses, and the ability of places to retain and attract businesses in particular industries, this study will develop and estimate econometric models to better understand the linkages between broadband and firms in the knowledge intensive sector. Specifically, 54 metropolitan area specific models will be developed to examine regional variations in the linkages between broadband and firms in the knowledge intensive sector in 2004. Model results highlight the importance of broadband to knowledge firms in all but five metropolitan areas across the U.S. They also reveal variations in the impact of broadband on knowledge firm presence related to metropolitan area size and industrial legacy.     

Competitive positioning within and across a strategic group structure: the performance of core,secondary, and solitary firms

Drawing from economic and cognitive theories, researchers have argued that firms within an industry tend to cluster together, following similar strategies. Their positioning in strategic groups, in turn, is argued to influence firm actions and firm performance. We extend this research to examine performance implications of competitive positioning not just among but also within groups. We find that performance differences within groups are significantly larger than across groups, suggesting that some firms within groups develop better resource or competitive positions. We also find that secondary firms within a group outperform both core firms within the group and solitary firms, the latter being those not belonging to any multifirm strategic group. This suggests that secondary firms may be able to effectively balance the benefits of strategic distinctiveness with institutional pressures for similarity. We conclude that the primary implication of strategic groups does not relate to the ability of firms to create stable, advantageous market segments through collusion. Instead, strategic groups represent a range of viable strategic positions firms may stake out and use as reference points. Moreover, our results concerning secondary firms indicate that firm positioning within a group structure can have performance implications. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

U.S. national security export controls: Implications for global competitiveness of U.S. high-tech firms

U.S. exporters of high-technology, ‘dual-use’ products are competitively disadvantaged in global markets by the complexity, range, and stringency of U.S. national security export controls. This paper demonstrates that fungibility of high technology and lax interpretation of multilateral export control agreements by other advanced countries have made the existing control regime ineffective. It further shows that persistent U.S. restrictiveness of exports in non-critical, widely available goods and technologies may needlessly and permanently erode U.S. firms' competitive position in existing as well as rapidly-opening markets worldwide. The need to revise the notion of national security to include not only military security, but also its complement, economic security, is discussed. The pivotal issue of enforceability of multilateral controls is explored, and corporate strategies for U.S. high-tech firms to achieve export control policy change are suggested.     

External knowledge search,innovative performance and productivity in the Korean ICT sector

In recent years, Korea’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry has grown rapidly. The prosperity of the ICT industry has brought growing recognition that rising productivity and innovative performance have made major contributions to ensuring competitive advantage in international markets. In this context, recent studies stress the importance of external knowledge for improving both innovative performance and productivity. This paper empirically investigates the effects of firms’ external knowledge search behavior on their productivity as well as their innovative performance in the Korean ICT manufacturing sector. Based on firm-level data from the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), this study indicates that incremental innovation and productivity are both related to external knowledge search.     

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.     

Entry barriers,release behavior,and multi-product firms in the music recording industry

This article models the product release behavior of multi-product oligopolistic firms in the music recording industry. The model predicts that increasing industry concentration may result in an apportionment of the market among the existing firms, and fewer new product releases. Even though the minimum efficient scale of production in the industry is modest, the apportionment outcome is stabilized by the existence of industry entry barriers that raise the costs of potential competitors or entrants.     

An assessment of science parks: Towards a better understanding of their role in the diffusion of technological knowledge

This paper examines the role of university science parks in fostering interorganizational technology transfers and technological development. We first try to contrast the development of science parks with the theoretical and empirical findings from scholarly work in the area of the management of technology. This theoretical context allows us to interpret and to discuss empirical data collected from Belgian and Dutch science park firms. The data collection mainly focused on the interactions of park-based firms with their external R&D environment. This analysis leads to two important findings: (1) the level of R&D activity at the tenants is rather moderate for most of the parks studied, and (2) the tension between 'regionalism' and 'internationalism' in contemporary R&D management.
In the wake of this second finding, arguments are presented to complement and even to change the focus from the 'miniature' R&D network which might develop on university science parks toward the 'R&D community' network holding together researchers working on a particular, interrelated set of scientific and technological problems wherever they may be located around the globe. Moreover, it is argued that a unified theory on the emergence and the development of new technologies is badly needed. Only if the dynamics underlying the development of a new technology are unravelled and better understood can technology policies, such as the ones involving the creation of science parks, be targeted more effectively.     

A new methodology linking concentration dynamics to current and steady-state profits:Examining Korean industrial policy during take-off

We model the dynamics of industrial structure and market power using Korean manufacturing data during the take-off period (1978–82). Structure–Conduct–Performance [SCP] methodologies have been criticized for using accounting data and because a few superior firms may have greater shares and greater profits. Both are argued to present possible spurious correlations between concentration and profits. This paper follows earlier work which shows that market structure responds to observed accounting profits as if these were accurate indices of real profits, and not as if leading firms are perceived to have unmatchable advantages. The methodological contribution of this model is a new latent variable for steady-state profits derived from the speed of structural adjustment. Long run profits are identified by the hypothesis that structural adjustment will be more rapid when industries are farther from steady-state levels. We analyze the long run profits latent variable, finding strong support for this hypothesis. The speed of adjustment is greater for positive and negative deviations from steady-state structure. We show that the profits and structural adjustment relationship is non-monotone. The SCP criticisms above are based on spurious correlations which are monotone in profits and structure. Positing spurious correlations which are at the same time monotone in structure and non-monotone in structural adjustment seems less plausible than accepting the SCP results which are consistent with both. Our analysis also is new in that it is the first direct econometric analysis of Korean industrial policy during its take-off years. We note that in Korea, unlike elsewhere, Industrial Policy was hypothesized to lead to concentration and market power in the popular press and by professional economists. Ours is the first direct econometric analysis of this hypothesis, and we find it supported.     

Dominant designs and the survival of firms

The economic, population ecology and strategic perspectives on firm survival are here complemented by viewing the same phenomenon from the viewpoint of technology evolution as well. The hypothesis tested is that the competitive environment of an industry, and therefore the survival of firms in it, is substantially affected by the evolution of the technology on which it is based. Survival analysis is applied to data from six industries. The results show that by explicitly including technology as a dynamic and strategic variable our understanding of firms' survival potential and success can be enhanced.     

Growing in the changing global landscape: the intangible resources and performance of high-tech corporates

The Belt and Road Initiative and Sino-US trade war stand for the trend of globalization and de-globalization. The changing environment motivates innovative high-tech corporates to reassess their intangible resources such as R&D investment and top managers team (TMT) political ties, in order to attain competitive advantages. The study based on a sample of 223 listed Chinese most innovative high-tech corporates (2014–2018) confirms R&D intensity as burden and political ties as support for corporates’ short-term performance. TMT political ties may attenuate the negative effect of R&D intensity on performance. The negative influences of R&D are aggravated when high environmental dynamism in both the US and B&R countries markets. However, the positive influences of political ties are moderated differently by environmental dynamism in the two markets. For the US market, export environmental dynamism implies de-globalization and diminishes the positive effect of the political relations on performance. By contrast, for the B&R market, it suggests globalization and strengthens the positive effect of political ties.