Within-cluster determinants of output efficiency of R&D in the space industry

Dynamic slacks-based data envelopment analysis is applied to measure output performance efficiency of space R&D active private firms. Fractional logit panel analysis is used to identify associations between this firm level R&D output efficiency and space industry level R&D specialisation, presence of anchor firms, and public R&D capacity within geographical clusters.Primary data collected for the entire population of space R&D active firms in Belgium for the period 2011–2015 reveals that an environment specialized in the focus firm's space activities exerts a positive influence on R&D output efficiency. The public space R&D capacity and the presence of space anchor firms within the cluster do not influence R&D output efficiency. Firm age, a mixture of space and non-space R&D, and larger amounts of public funding positively affect R&D output efficiency. These findings should be seen in a context of a space industry dominated by SMEs and in a five year time-span.     

Illegitimate tasks as a source of work stress

Illegitimate tasks represent a task-level stressor derived from role and justice theories within the framework of “Stress-as–Offense-to-Self” (SOS; Semmer, Jacobshagen, Meier, & Elfering, 2007). Tasks are illegitimate if they violate norms about what an employee can properly be expected to do, because they are perceived as unnecessary or unreasonable; they imply a threat to one's professional identity. We report three studies testing associations between illegitimate tasks and well-being/strain. In two cross-sectional studies, illegitimate tasks predicted low self-esteem, feelings of resentment towards one's organization and burnout, controlling for role conflict, distributive injustice and social stressors in Study 1, and for distributive and procedural/interactional justice in Study 2. In Study 3, illegitimate tasks predicted two strain variables (feelings of resentment towards one's organization and irritability) over a period of two months, controlling for initial values of strain. Results confirm the unique contribution of illegitimate tasks to well-being and strain, beyond the effects of other predictors. Moreover, Study 3 demonstrated that illegitimate tasks predicted strain, rather than being predicted by it. We therefore conclude that illegitimate tasks represent an aspect of job design that deserves more attention, both in research and in decisions about task assignments.     

Offshoring and Cross‐Border Interorganizational Relationships: A Justice Model*

In this article, we develop an interorganizational justice model to explain cross‐border interorganizational relationships. The model contends that cultural distance (construed as the cultural differences between offshoring partners) would influence behavioral uncertainty and the boundary spanners' perceptions of justice. Specifically, the model predicts that high levels of behavioral uncertainty are likely to reduce relational commitment, whereas low levels of behavioral uncertainty are likely to enhance relational commitment. However, boundary spanners' perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice would mitigate the negative impact of behavioral uncertainty on relational commitment. The model also predicts that culturally similar boundary spanners would be more likely to share similar perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice than culturally dissimilar boundary spanners. This model has implications for further theoretical discussion and empirical research as well as management practice. Managers could use the interorganizational justice model to assess shared perceptions of justice among boundary spanners and develop transcultural justice competencies.     

营销渠道中的合同治理、公平与角色外利他行为

本文以交易成本理论等为理论基础，应用AMOS 24.0软件对660份问卷数据进行结构方程建模分析，探讨了营销渠道中的合同治理（合同详尽性、合同监督）、渠道公平（分配公平、程序公平）与依赖对经销商角色外利他行为的影响。研究表明：第一，合同的详尽性、经销商的合同监督对其感知的分配公平、程序公平均有显著的正向影响；第二，经销商感知的分配公平、程序公平对其角色外利他行为均有显著的正向影响；第三，经销商依赖会增强分配公平对角色外利他行为的正向影响，减弱程序公平对角色外利他行为的正向影响。第四，合同详尽性和合同监督通过分配公平、程序公平促进经销商的角色外利他行为。     

Differentiated leader–member exchange,justice climate,and performance: Main and interactive effects

Leaders form different quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships with their subordinates. This variable treatment termed LMX differentiation can have negative effects on individuals' behavior and attitudes. In this study, we examined the cross-level main effect of justice climate on task performance and the moderating role of justice climate on the relationship between LMX differentiation and task performance. We tested these two hypotheses using a field study of 90 subordinates nested under 27 supervisors. Procedural justice climate, not distributive justice climate, was found to positively influence subordinate task performance. Further, distributive justice climate, not procedural justice climate, was found to moderate the LMX differentiation–task performance relationship; such that the relationship was positive when distributive justice climate was high and negative when distributive justice climate was low. Findings and future directions are discussed.     

DEA and ranking with the network-based approach: a case of R&D performance

This study enhances the network-based approach, which is a novel method to increase discrimination in data envelopment analysis. The enhancements include removing the bias caused by a scale difference among organizations and highlighting the approach's ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each organization. The former makes the approach applicable to both the constant returns of scale (CRS) and the variable returns of scale (VRS) models. The network-based approach applies the centrality concept developed in social network analysis to discriminate efficient decision making organizations as determined by standard data envelopment analysis (DEA). More specifically, the results of data envelopment analysis are transformed into a directed and weighted network in which each node represents a decision making organization and the link between a pair of node represents the referencing relationship between the pair. The centrality value for each efficient organization provides the base for discrimination and ranking. This network-based approach suggests aggregating DEA results of different input/output combinations such that the merits of each organization under various situations can be considered. The final ranking of this approach favors organizations that have their strengths evenly spread and tends to screen out specialized efficient organizations. As a real world example, the approach is applied to evaluate and rank the R&D (research and development) performance of Taiwan's government-supported research institutes. The cross-organizations and within-organization strengths for each efficient research institute are identified after applying the approach. A two-stage R&D evaluation model separates the R&D process into the technology development and technology diffusion stage. The resulting performance map differentiates the research institutes into four categories—Achievers, Marketers, Innovators, and Underdogs.     

Evaluating the efficiency of dual-use technology development programs from the R&D and socio-economic perspectives

This study applies a network data envelopment analysis model called network slacks-based measure (NSBM) to examine the R&D efficiency and socio-economic efficiency of Taiwan's dual-use (military and general public) technology development programs. We also employ the additive super-efficiency model to distinguish programs at different stages and conduct an analysis on the strengths and weaknesses of internal resource utilization. The results of this study show that the R&D efficiency is substantially higher than the socio-economic efficiency. Among the dual-use technology development programs, material and chemical engineering programs demonstrate relatively higher performance. This study provides insights into the policy of resource utilization.     

The impact of service R&D on the performance of Korean information communication technology small and medium enterprises

In recent years, research and development (R&D) in the service industry has attracted a great deal of attention from both academia and industrial firms. However, compared to the manufacturing sector, little research exists on the implications of R&D for the financial and/or non-financial performance of firms in the service industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of service R&D on the performance of information communication technology (ICT) firms. We identify five categories of R&D activities and investigate their impact on the financial and non-financial performance of 100 ICT firms, with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea. We postulate positive relationships between R&D efforts and a firm's performance. However, the findings only partially support our hypotheses; unexpected results demonstrate that the presence of R&D management negatively influences a firm's performance. We present detailed statistical results and discuss the implications of the study.     

Gender and Employee Attitudes: The Role of Organizational Justice Perceptions

In this study, using path analysis, we tested whether procedural justice perceptions mediated the relationship between gender and distributive justice perceptions. Furthermore, we also tested whether the two forms of commitment (affective and normative) mediated the relationships between justice perceptions (distributive and procedural) and tenure intent. One hundred and eighty-three employees from Irish manufacturing organizations participated in the study. As hypothesized, we found support for the mediating role of procedural justice perception on the relationship between gender and distributive justice perception. Results also indicated that affective commitment mediated the relationships between justice perceptions and tenure intent and affective commitment. Finally, normative commitment did not mediate the relationships between justice perceptions and tenure intent. Further analysis using moderated regression analysis showed that gender moderated the relationships between distributive justice perceptions and affective commitment only. Gender did not have any moderating effect on normative commitment or tenure intent. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Policies to Attract R&D-related FDI in Small Emerging Countries: Aligning Incentives With Local Linkages and Absorptive Capacities in Chile

Over the last decade we have witnessed an unprecedented growth in the number of cross-border R&D investments towards large emerging countries such as China and India. However, small middle-income countries have played a marginal role as recipients of R&D-related FDI despite increasing policy efforts. In particular, several Latin American countries have recently launched new policy programs with the aim of attracting this kind of investments, but it remains uncertain whether public incentives can be useful to compensate for other locational disadvantages. The case of Chile provides an interesting empirical setting to explore these issues because during the last decade its government has been actively promoting R&D-related FDI through a new policy mix. This article suggests that for national innovation systems to benefit from the attraction of internationally-mobile R&D it is critical for public policies to ensure that appropriate linkages are established with local actors that hold absorptive capacities. Equally important for a small emerging economy like Chile is to prioritize R&D-related FDI in strategic technology niches where the country can realistically attain critical mass.     

The role of political ties and political uncertainty in corporate innovation

We examine the relationship between firms' political connections and corporate innovation in a European context. We also consider the moderating effect of political connections on the relationship between political uncertainty and firms' innovation. We use two different metrics of innovation: R&D (an input measure), and patent counts (an output measure). We find that firms with former politicians on their board of directors invest less in R&D than their counterpart firms. However, the presence of this type of director on the board is positively associated with the number of a firm's patent applications. It seems that, although political ties reduce the amount of resources devoted to R&D activities, they increase the effectiveness of intellectual rights protection. Results also show that political uncertainty decreases R&D investment but exacerbates the need for legal protection of innovation through patents. According to our results, political connections attenuate the effect of political uncertainty on firm innovation such that the negative (positive) effect of uncertainty on R&D intensity (patents) weakens when the firm is politically connected.     

程序公平和分配公平对联盟承诺的影响:基于中国医院联盟的实证研究

研究了程序公平和分配公平对联盟承诺的影响,基于我国医院联盟的背景和问卷调查,利用因子分析、层级回归和调节回归验证了相关假设。实证结果表明:程序公平和分配公平能够提高组织对联盟的承诺;具有不同市场地位的组织由于组织特征、市场环境和联盟地位的差异,对不同类型的公平具有不同的反应。这一结论对现有程序公平主导的观点提出了挑战,深化了现有关于联盟公平的研究。     

What effect does the aggregate industrial R&D offshoring have on you? A multilevel study

The present study argues that R&D offshoring is not only a matter of firm's decision as in previous literature, but also has an important industrial externality component. For a sample of manufacturing and services industries in the period 2005–15, I study the externalities coming from R&D offshorers in a given industry and the heterogeneous effects of enterprises' internal knowledge base characteristics. The evidence points to offshoring externality (OE) presenting an inverted U-shape with respect to the firms' innovative processes. However, firms with higher levels of human capital and/or internal R&D investments obtain higher returns coming from the OE. Overall, it seems that a strategy (R&D offshoring) that is highly beneficial for enterprises individually, might be also optimal for the Spanish economy.     

Acquisition as a means for external technology sourcing: Complementary, substitutive or both?

This paper addresses the question of how a target firm's innovation activities relate to the acquiring firm's R&D characteristics, and more specifically, if the former substitute for, or complement the acquirer's activities. It investigates this question in three narrowly defined high technology industries by analysing the association of three R&D characteristics of acquiring firms with different measures of acquisition extent and content. The R&D characteristics referred to are: addressing R&D efforts, R&D outputs and absorptive capacity. Data was collected in each case for those firms whose combined sales revenue makes up 80% of the industry total and is used to test a set of hypotheses derived from extant literature. The findings confirm a substitutive relationship between acquisitions and acquirer research efforts as well as between acquirer and target patent output, whereas absorptive capacity is complementary to acquisition activities. The results reveal that acquirers target firms that hold a large number of patents in the fields where acquirer patenting is weak, and so address weaknesses in their own R&D output. This finding extends the extant literature on the role of external technology sourcing in the high technology context. Research findings are presented along with their implications and directions for future research.     

The antecedents of new R&D collaborations with different partner types: On the dynamics of past R&D collaboration and innovative performance

We examine firms' propensity to adapt their R&D collaboration portfolio by establishing new types of R&D collaboration with different kinds of partners (suppliers, customers, competitors and universities & public research institutions). We argue that existing R&D collaboration with one of the two value chain partners (suppliers or customers) is associated with the formation of new R&D collaboration with the other value chain partner to ensure temporal alignment in innovation within the value chain. In contrast, issues related to governance and unintended knowledge spillovers suggest that ‘horizontal’ R&D collaboration with competitors only spurs R&D collaboration with other partner types if such competitor R&D collaboration has been discontinued earlier (‘delayed temporal alignment’). We posit that persistent prior R&D collaboration with institutional partners is an antecedent to the establishment of new R&D collaboration with industrial partners, and that discontinuation of a particular type of R&D collaboration is likely to lead to a restart of such R&D collaborative effort. Strong prior innovative performance is expected to increase the probability that firms establish R&D collaborations with new partner types, except for R&D collaboration with competitors, since the most innovative firms may fear leakage of proprietary knowledge to rivals. We find broad support for these predictions in a large panel of Spanish innovating firms (2004–2011). Our findings highlight that it is not just the configuration of R&D collaborations with existing partner types that predicts tie formation with new partner types, but also the intertemporal pattern of prior R&D collaboration and managerial discretion provided by past innovation success.     

政府补贴、所有权性质与企业研发决策

本文将企业研发行为分为"是否研发"和"投入多少"两个阶段,就政府补贴对不同所有制企业研发决策的影响进行研究.理论方面,构建企业研发决策的两阶段模型,讨论了补贴对企业研发投资的作用机制.实证方面,以中国工业企业为对象,选择Heckman两步法和2SLS分别处理了样本选择性偏误及变量间的内生性问题,对来自国有、私营和外资企业的分类样本进行了检验,结果表明:在不同的所有权性质下,政府补贴对企业研发投资的作用存在一定差别,国有企业面对优惠政策的倾斜和需要担负的社会责任,从事技术创新活动的概率较高,但由于特殊的产权关系和预算软约束等原因,缺乏扩大研发投入的动力;对于治理机制完善的外资企业和处于市场竞争弱势地位的私营企业而言,政府补贴的研发激励效果更为明显.     

R&D,productivity, and market value: An empirical study from high-technology firms

Although prior research has addressed the influence of production activity and research and development (R&D) on productivity, it is not clear whether production and R&D affect the market value of a firm. This study proposes and verifies an R&D value chain framework to explore the relationship among productivity, R&D, and firm market values, as measured by Tobin's q theory. By doing so, we attempt to link new theoretical insights and empirical evidence on the effects of R&D efforts and basic production activities to the market valuations of high-technology firms. The value chain data envelopment analysis approach was proposed to estimate parallel-serial processes of basic operations and R&D efforts. This approach can be used to simultaneously estimate the profitability efficiency and marketability efficiency of high-technology firms. This area has rarely been studied, but it is particularly important for high-technology R&D policies and for further industrial development. Using the R&D value chain perspectives of model innovations and extensions proposed in several previous studies, we examined the appropriate levels of intermediate outputs. Production efficiency and R&D were combined to estimate the appropriate levels of intermediate outputs for high-technology firms. Based on the intermediate output analyses, we developed an R&D efforts decision matrix to explore and identify operational and R&D efficiency for high-technology firms. Our sample firms are displayed on a four-quadrant action grid that provides visual information on current short-term operational efficiency and decision making on long-term R&D strategic positions. The empirical findings from the R&D value chain model can provide information for policymakers and managers and suggest the adoption of various policies that place more emphasis on profitability and marketability strategies.     

Procedural Justice in Procurement Management and Inclusive Interorganizational Relations: An Institutional Perspective

This paper applies the concept of procedural justice to one of the most important focal points of interorganizational relations: the purchaser–supplier relationship. The few extant studies of the concept in the purchaser–supplier domain have overlooked an important aspect of this key relationship: that is, inclusiveness in procurement. This is despite the fact that interest in the specific empirical context of supply chain links between large purchasing organizations (LPOs) and ethnic minority suppliers (EMSs) from disadvantaged communities proceeds apace on both sides of the Atlantic. Institutional theory is used to examine the form that procedural justice takes in eight case studies of LPOs from the private and public sectors, which actively engage with inclusive procurement management initiatives in England. The guiding question is twofold: ‘What may LPO approaches to installing procedural justice in procurement management entail?’ and ‘How are these approaches shaped?’ This paper identifies specific approaches to installing procedural justice for inclusive procurement and submits theoretical propositions about how these are shaped. The study contributes to a macro‐level assessment of procedural justice, i.e. interorganizational procedural justice, as a significant aspect of inclusive interorganizational relationships, which is a domain in need of theoretical development.     

Explaining performing R&D through alliances: Implications for the business model of Italian dedicated biotech firms

In recent years management scholars and practitioners have been interested in Research and Development (R&D) partnering, especially in high-tech industries. While the motivations of research partnership formation have been widely explored in literature, little attempt has been undertaken to examine the effects of research partnerships on R&D productivity and the implications for business models of the new ventures. In this paper we try to shed some light on the business models of the young ventures involved in R&D partnerships and their effect on R&D productivity. Our hypotheses are that experience in previous alliances, repeated partnerships and tight relationships have positive effects on R&D productivity while rigid governance structures and public R&D subsidies have negative effects on such productivity. We discuss how these aspects affect the business models of biotech firms. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 55 Italian DBFs (Dedicated Biotech Firms). Results support our hypotheses. Managerial implications and further issues for future research are discussed.