Budgets for research and development: an empirical study of 69 Swedish firms

It was found that, as a rule, firms decide upon individual projects and do not specify in advance a fixed level for the R & D budget. The decision about individual R & D projects and/or the R & D budget was most frequently made by the president of the company. The implication of our results for various kinds of research on the economics of R & D are discussed. Questionnaires were sent out to 124 large Swedish firms, asking how they determined budgets for research and development (R & D) and who decided about the size of these budgets. 94 firms answered and 69 of these undertook R & D.     

Collaboration in R&D with universities and research centres: an empirical study of Spanish firms

Innovation is sometimes the result of collaboration between different agents with complementary resources. When companies make formal agreements to collaborate in R&D they do so with different types of organizations, such as their competitors, suppliers, and customers, or universities and research centres. This paper focuses on attempting to understand the reasons that lead companies to cooperate with universities and research centres and the characteristics of the relationship that this involves. The empirical study is based on a sample of 747 Spanish firms that took part in some type of collaborative R&D project between 1994 and 1996. Results indicate that cooperation with centres is a nation–wide phenomenon involving basic research, conducted under the sponsorship of different research support schemes promoted by central and regional administrations.     

New technology, innovation and training: an empirical study of selected British firms

This article is based on a survey of manufacturing sites, and the relation between production innovation and skills provision strategies encountered therein. It discusses the ways in which trends towards process integration and product flexibility are encouraging moves away from the traditional dependence on 'off-the-shelf'skills recruitment and towards a greater emphasis on training, often of a flexible and cross-disciplinary type.     

Organizational boundaries and economic performance: An empirical study of entrepreneurial computer firms

This research examines the relationship between the organizational boundaries of entrepreneurial firms and their economic performance. The theoretical basis for this work is transaction cost economics research regarding when internalizing certain activities will be preferred over contracting. To consider the conditions under which contracting is costly we compare across three functional areas and three firm strategies. The results of a longitudinal analysis of 122 entrepreneurial firms in the computer industry show that performance effects are associated with contracting activities and that product market strategies moderate the performance effects of contracting. The results are mixed in their support for the predictions of transaction cost economics.     

Innovation support for new technology-based firms: the Swedish Teknopol approach

Small and medium sized firms in general and new technology-based firms in particular, serve as promoters of future economical growth. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to understand and satisfy their needs for innovation support services in regard to both the type of service and quality of delivery (e.g. confidentiality, speed).¹ Drawing upon a database of 259 new technology-based firms (NTBF) and 106 researchers, we have identified four needs bundles: marketing, technology, financing and soft service support. We have evaluated the effectiveness of the Swedish Teknopol scheme to meet these needs based upon 35 in-depth interviews with NTBFs. The conclusions of the evaluation are presented both for policy makers and NTBF managers.     

Strategies for deveIopment projects: an empirical study*

This paper summarizes results from a study of strategy choices and outcomes in one government laboratory over a fifteen-year time period. Several considerations associated with the effectiveness of a parallel strategy are presented and discussed. These include different types of uncertainty encountered in a given problem and their effect on the rate of learning. Contrary to observations in other studies, the present results suggest that the rate of learning is often slow and may not be facilitated by the use of many parallel approaches in only early project stages. In many instances major uncertainties are not reduced until the product is evaluated in the operational environment.     

The practice of R&D management: An empirical study of Korean firms

This paper presents an empirical study on the practice of R&D management in a Newly Industrializing Country, Korea. Based on a review of literature, a survey framework has been generated. The data were collected from 73 laboratories of Korean private companies through a structured questionnaire, via mail and additional telephone interviews in some cases. The major findings concerning R&D planning, R&D project management and evaluation, and R&D personnel management are described. In Korea, substantial efforts have been made in order to enhance the efficiency of R&D management, though the practice of R&D management is by now in the unstructured/flexible phase. Beyond this study, more detailed research on the R&D management of Newly Industrializing Countries is needed.     

Imports and domestic entry: an empirical study

The objectives of this study are twofold: (a) to investigate the influence of imports on domestic entrants and to see whether indeed imports have a deterring effect on potential entrants; and (b) to determine whether the common finding of a weakly negative, or even nonnegative, impact of imports on domestic firms' profitability can be attributed to imports' inhibiting effect on potential entrants. A reduction or removal of the threat of domestic entry enables existing firms to raise prices, therefore, this effect may partly counter the procompetitive, price reducing effect of imports on domestic oligopolistic markets.     

Variety in the innovation process of UK research and development service firms

Research and development service firms (RDSFs) are a particular type of technology-based knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). RDSFs provide clients with R&D services on a contract basis, and operate as knowledge intermediaries linking research and market. They are innovative in their own right, as well as supporting innovation efforts by their clients; they rely on their own innovation efforts to be competitive and to develop new value propositions for their clients. The present paper explores the innovation process in RDSFs, drawing on semi-structured interviews with founders and senior managers of 32 companies in the United Kingdom. Our findings suggest that RDSFs vary considerably in terms of their primary innovation drivers (i.e. whether they are mainly driven by market demands or by technological opportunities) and the outcomes they pursue (i.e. whether their outputs are mainly services to clients or a mixture of services and products and/or intellectual property). Four major orientations of RDSFs were identified: (i) technology-based innovation exploiters; (ii) science-focused innovation explorers; (iii) client-driven innovation integrators; and (iv) open innovation translators. This variety among firms normally belonging to the same, small subsector of KIBS, suggests the need for caution in generalising about behaviour in terms of such statistical groupings.     

The Lead User method: an outline of empirical findings and issues for future research

In order to reduce the risks of failure usually associated with NPD, leading companies such as 3M, HILTI, or Johnson&Johnson are increasingly working with so-called Lead Users. Their identification and involvement is supported by the Lead User method – a multi stage approach aiming to generate innovative new product concepts and to enhance the effectiveness of cross-functional innovation teams. While the Lead User method is frequently cited in the literature, yet, there are only limited attempts to comprehensively discuss how this approach is embedded in theories and empirical findings of innovation and marketing research. Therefore the Lead User method is in the focus of the present paper, both with respect to its theoretical foundation and its implementation into the innovation management system. First, empirical research on user innovations is reviewed to clarify the theoretical foundation of the Lead User method. Second the attention is drawn to the Lead User practice by discussing the various process steps of this specific approach on the basis of two applications of the method. Based on this discussion, we outline open questions related with the practical implementation of the Lead User method in order to start an agenda for future research.     

Marketing communication strategies in support of product launch: An empirical study of Taiwanese high-tech firms

To understand the mechanisms that underlie marketing communication support for product launches, the authors conduct an empirical study and propose a conceptual framework that depicts the relationships between informational/transformational or elaborational/relational messages and their effectiveness. The hypothesized message-communication and message-sales effect links are moderated by three communication process characteristics: message clarity, message uniformity, and integration of the communication. On the basis of data collected from an industrial survey of 101 high-tech firms in Taiwan, the authors find that informational and relational messages offer greater support for new products. Whereas message clarity and integration of communication expectedly demonstrate positive moderating effects on message-performance links, message uniformity only affects messages-sales effect relationships. The authors explore research insights and discuss implications for both academia and practitioners from the perspectives of new product management and integrated marketing communications.     

Comparative empirical observations on worker-owned and capitalist firms

The paper analyzes the available quantitative information on worker-owned and capitalist firms in a few industrialized countries in an attempt to draw a comparative profile of their respective sectors. The population of worker-owned firms is found to be heterogeneous, changing over time, and significantly different from the population of capitalist firms. Worker-owned firms are smaller, concentrate in a few industries, and since the mid 1970s have higher birth rates and lower demise rates than capitalist firms. These findings are interpreted with the aid of a theoretical framework and in a broad historical context.     

New venture strategies: Theory development with an empirical base

The strategy focus of over 2500 new ventures across six different industries was examined to identify what dimensions coalesce into distinct configurations. The supposition that traditional strategy typologies are inadequate to describe the breadth of differentiation exhibited among new ventures was supported. Factor and cluster analysis revealed six generic new venture strategy archetypes that can be distinguished along two dimensions; scope of segmentation, and product vs. marketing emphasis. The extent to which the archetypes tend to dominate in different industries was found to vary according to the industry's position on the industry supply chain. Strategies with a narrow scope of segmentation tended to prevail in industries near the end of the supply chain, whereas those that adopted a broad approach tended to predominate in industries near the beginning or middle of the supply chain.     

Risks and returns of acquiring and acquired firms in Singapore: An empirical analysis

This paper investigates the risk profiles of target and acquiring firms and the impact of the takeover process on them. It was found that corporate takeovers generally increased the systematic risk of the acquiring firms after the event while lowering the systematic risk of the target firms. There were large and statistically significant returns obtained by the shareholders of the target firms due to the takeover event. The shareholders of the acquiring firms did not suffer any negative returns.The authors benefitted from the discussions at the Academy of International Business South-east Asia Regional Conference, 26–28 June 1986, where an earlier version of this paper was presented. The authors also like to acknowledge the financial support from the National University of Singapore.     

股权结构与公司绩效的U型关系研究——1997～2000年上市公司的实证研究

本文通过对上市公司 1 997～ 2 0 0 0年的数据的实证分析 ,结果表明 :股权集中度、内部持股比例与公司绩效均呈显著性倒U型相关 ;第一大股东持股比例与公司绩效正相关 ;国家股比例、境内法人股与公司绩效呈显著性U型相关 ,这说明当国家或法人持股比例较低时 ,与公司绩效负相关 ,而在持股比例较高时 ,与公司绩效正相关 ;流通股比例与公司绩效呈U型关系 ,即在流通股比例高低的两端 ,公司绩效均表现出较高水平。     

Industry structure and CEO characteristics: an empirical study of succession events

Based on 134 CEO succession events in nondiversified, manufacturing firms, this study examines the relationships between industry structure and the characteristics of CEO successors. The paper also explores the performance implications of the fit between industry structure and CEO successors. Results indicate that industry structure plays an important, but not pervasive, role in explaining variations in newly selected CEOs. Specifically, the higher the level of industry product differentiation, the lower the organizational tenure, the higher the educational level and the greater the likelihood of a nonthroughput background in the CEO successor; the higher the industry growth rate, the lower the organizational tenure and age of the CEO successor. However, findings provide very limited support for the normative view that firms which match CEO successor characteristics to industry structure realize better postsuccession performance than those with lower levels of fit. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

KFAS mechanism of funding research and development: an assessment

This paper assesses mechanisms of funding research projects used by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). KFAS is a leading organization that sponsors research projects in Kuwait and whose endowments come through contributions from private sector companies. The assessment described in the paper relies on time series data covering the period from 1978 to 1996. The analysis shows that KFAS funding of research projects has favored projects in sectors such as agriculture and food resources, and has assigned low priority to prime sectors, such as oil, water, and manufacturing. This reflects a lack of coherence between the organization's R&D activities and the country's socioeconomic plans and needs.     

The antecedents of open business models: an exploratory study of incumbent firms

Firms engage increasingly in open business models. While most research has previously focused on typologies or challenges of open business models, their specific antecedents have not been studied so far. We use data from eight open business model cases to explore this question and identify five main antecedents of open business models: (1) business model inconsistency, (2) need to create and capture new value, (3) previous experience with collaboration, (4) open business model patterns, and (5) industry convergence. Based on openness characteristics from the existing literature, we differentiate four basic types of open business models and develop an initial understanding of the relevance of the identified antecedents for each of them. We thereby provide first guidelines for practitioners in choosing the right form of business model openness for their company.     

Does international research and development increase patent output? An analysis of Japanese pharmaceutical firms

Internationalizing research and development is often advocated as a strategy for fostering the development of technological capabilities. Although firms conduct international R&D to tap into knowledge bases that reside in foreign countries, we argue that in order to benefit from international R&D investments firms must already possess research capabilities in underlying or complementary technologies. We examine the international R&D expansion activities, research capabilities, and patent output of 65 Japanese pharmaceutical firms from 1980 to 1991. We find that firms benefit from international R&D only when they possess existing research capabilities in the underlying technologies. In addition to refining our understanding of when international R&D enhances firm innovation, our results integrate asset‐seeking and asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment. Internationalizing R&D to tap into foreign knowledge bases is consistent with asset‐seeking theories of foreign direct investment, while the contingent nature by which firms benefit from international R&D is consistent with asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment and the notion of absorptive capacity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The employment effects of new technology and organizational change: an empirical study

Studies of the relationship between technological change and employment are placed in a conceptual framework prior to an empirical study of the direct employment effects of new technology and a comparison with the effects of organizational change. It shows that the latter are considerably greater than the former, though both are relatively minor.