Local and Global Knowledge Complementarity: R&D Collaborations and Innovation of Foreign and Domestic Firms

We analyze how research and development (R&D) collaborations affect product innovation for subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms and domestic firms. We build on the knowledge-based view to propose that subsidiaries and domestic firms differ in their ability to benefit from alternative R&D partners as a result of the variation in their knowledge complementarities. Specifically, we propose that subsidiaries may benefit more from undertaking R&D collaborations with customers and competitors, whose deeper knowledge of local conditions better complements the more global knowledge base of subsidiaries. In contrast, we argue that domestic firms may benefit more from engaging in R&D collaborations with suppliers and universities, whose more global nature of knowledge better complement the deeper local knowledge base of domestic firms.     

顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究

通过顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究,从企业战略联盟的角度,得出了顾客参与公司治理实质上是代表了一种新型的企业战略联盟类型——治理权战略联盟——的结论,它与现有的包括公司相互持股在内的股权型战略联盟和契约型战略联盟相比更具生命力和优越性。在当前经济总体上由短缺经济过渡到过剩经济、卖方市场变成买方市场的背景下,通过顾客参与公司治理的形式在供需双方间建立治理权的战略联盟必将成为越来越多企业的现实选择。     

论企业规模与R&D投入相关性

在各国学者对企业规模与 R& D投入相关性研究成果的基础上 ,建立了独特的具有综合反映特征的指标 :相对 R& D支出弹性 .利用该指标深入分析了美国、中国及武汉企业规模与R& D投入强度的关联 ,比较了它们之间大中型企业 R& D行为异同 ,得到了具有强解释力的结论 .论文还对不同产业的 R& D投入行为差异作了较深入分析     

Corporate Governance: A New Limit to Real Options Valuation?*

Including real options in firms ’ value raises numerous difficulties. Limitations concerning the relevance of option pricing models outside financial markets are the most salient, but carrying out a valuation implies other assumptions, especially on firms’ governance. In particular, assessing whether a real option should be included within a firm’s boundaries and how its value should be shared, is difficult. Most of these issues result from the different property rights on real options: who creates and who can exercise the option? We discuss existing answers to these difficulties and propose a matrix based on property rights to help practitioners decide whether a real option can be valued appropriately or not by real options models. We support our discussion with a case study based on an R&;D firm valuation.     

The role of deliberate and experiential learning in developing capabilities: Insights from technology licensing

We discuss the interdependencies between deliberate and experiential learning in developing a dynamic technology licensing capability, which was termed ‘desorptive capacity’ in earlier conceptual work. We use new three-year lagged data from two surveys of 79 firms to examine the role of dedicated licensing employees and prior licensing experience in developing firms’ sensing, seizing, and transforming capacities in technology out-licensing. The findings emphasize capabilities’ multidimensionality and critical trade-offs due to interdependencies between deliberate and experiential learning in developing capabilities. Besides interdependencies with experiential learning, deliberate learning strengthens sensing and seizing capacity, but it negatively affects transforming capacity based on inertia.     

Developing new innovation models: Shifts in the innovation landscapes in emerging economies and implications for global R&D management

Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial shift in the global innovation landscape. Multinationals from developed economies are increasingly globalizing their R&D activities and are developing an “open innovation” model to source innovations from outside the firm, including from emerging economies such as those in Asia. In addition, emerging economy firms, which traditionally have played a secondary role in the global innovation landscape, have now begun to catch up in developing their own innovative capabilities. This study explores the implications of this new innovation landscape for CEOs of multinationals and emerging economy firms, as well as for international management scholars and educators. While the multinationals might appropriate rents from their existing capabilities and source new ones in emerging economies, they may be threatened by weak intellectual property rights regimes and unintended knowledge spillovers to local firms, creating potential competitors. Firms in the emerging economies can learn from and catch up with investing multinationals, but to do so they need to develop their own innovative capabilities and move from a process to a product focus and from imitation to innovation.     

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.     

Biopharmaceutical and chemical firms’ R&D disclosure,and cost of equity: The impact of the regulatory regime

Based on the proprietary costs theory, this paper aims to survey whether the regulatory regime (mandatory versus voluntary) of research and development (R&D) narrative disclosures impacts, by the means of a reduced information asymmetry, on the cost of equity capital. In order to construct a disclosure index to investigate the extent and the comprehensiveness of R&D information, the methodology adopted was the content analysis of 77 biopharmaceutical and chemical listed companies’ management reports from eight Western European countries across the period 2005–2009. Hence, we obtained an (unbalanced) panel data of 309 observations. The cost of capital has subsequently been regressed on the disclosure index. Results confirm a larger amount of R&D disclosures whereas information is more regulated, but they do not confirm an inverse relation with the cost of capital.     

Product diversification through licensing: Empirical evidence from Chinese firms

Anecdotal evidence suggests that manufacturing firms are able to engage in product diversification through external technology acquisitions, such as technology licensing. However, there is little empirical evidence regarding this proposition to link inward technology licensing and firms’ product diversification or to suggest when and under what conditions the effect of diversification through this channel may be mitigated or augmented. The current study aims to address this research gap through an empirical investigation of a sample of 141 Chinese manufacturing licensee firms. The results indicate that inward technology licensing is positively related to a firm’s diversification and that this relationship is further moderated by a licensee firm’s R&D expenditure and technological distance relative to the licensor firm.     

Organizational Learning under Organizational Impermanence: Collaborative Ties in Film Project Firms

In the last two decades a lot of research has been devoted to unveiling the processes through which organizations learn and store knowledge. This research is typically concerned with organizations lastingly engaged in the provision of goods or services. Permanency is usually presumed in order for the encoding of inferences from history to take place. But what if organizational permanency cannot be assumed ex-ante? Project firms represent an interesting case in point. A project firm is a transient form of organization that ceases to exist as soon as its single target is achieved, as such it does not exhibit stable structures nor does it exhibit ostensible history-based paths upon which to build its choices and nurture its organizational knowledge. This apparent paradox can be resolved, in part, by extending the view from the isolated project to the relational context in which project firms operate. Using longitudinal data from the U.S. feature film industry, we show that the process of organizational formation and dissolution that characterizes this context is underpinned by patterns of enduring collaborations among interdependent industry participants. We build on these findings to speculate on processes of learning and remembering that interpenetrate project firms’ boundaries, by being embedded within a texture of stable interpersonal ties.     

控制权、破产风险与我国民营公司负债行为

以2001~2004年的经验数据为样本,对负债的股权非稀释效应和破产监督效应进行了实证检验。结果表明,与非民营企业相比,我国民营企业倾向于采用更高的负债率,这主要是由于受负债融资的股权非稀释效应的激励。就民营公司全样本而言,家族持股比例与负债水平的关系不显著,进一步按持股比例的不同区间将民营企业划分为多个子样本进行检验,均发现家族持股比例与负债水平负相关,而且家族持股比例位于20%~30%的民营企业负债率显著高于其他民营企业。以上2种效应都得到了实证结论的支持:股权非稀释效应激励家族控制能力较弱的公司采用较高的负债率以集中投票权;破产监督效应迫使家族控制能力较强的公司采用较低的负债水平以规避破产风险。     

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.     

实物期权视角下政治关联与民营企业的成长价值

利用实物期权理论,利用867个民营上市公司样本,实证分析了民营企业先天"出生"和后天"红顶"这2种政治关联形式对企业成长的作用,其中,前者指民营企业家和高管是否拥有政府工作经历,后者指是否拥有人大政协的政治身份。实证结果发现,政府经历型关联提高了企业增长期权价值,但是政治身份型关联却降低了企业增长期权价值。民营企业的政治关联并非必定带来绝对收益,而是具有"得到与付出"双重效应。在经济转型过程中民营企业的战略意图逐渐向市场化倾斜。     

The Processes of New Product Development Recentralization towards a Transnational Emphasis in Multinational Corporations

Studies on R&D internationalization have identified the decentralization-recentralization pattern of many multinational corporations (MNCs). Studies have also indicated that MNCs tend to pursue a transnational emphasis during R&D recentralization. This research focuses on recentralization of new product development (NPD) in MNCs and aims to reveal different processes of it towards a transnational emphasis. Through a qualitative case study of four MNCs, the NPD recentralization process was explored in two important dimensions – power centralization and pluralistic input. Four process variants were discovered, showing different approaches to power centralization and pluralistic input. The processes of recentralization are novel to the area of R&D internationalization. This study also advances our understanding of R&D recentralization with a focus on NPD fulfilling market demand, which has not been well addressed in prior studies. In addition, this study generates some insights into transnational management.     

组织学习模式转变与后发企业技术能力提升研究——以永光集团为例

通过对永光集团的案例研究,回答了在不断变化的技术和市场环境下,后发企业如何根据不同发展阶段的战略目标和技术基础选择组织学习的主导模式,以促进技术能力提升这一问题。分析表明,组织学习是一个不断深化的动态过程。组织学习模式的选择与技术基础有着很强的内在联系,后发企业技术能力发展水平、技术基础和发展战略目标影响组织学习主导模式的选择,而组织学习的主导模式又从知识积累和知识应用2个方面影响后发企业技术能力的形成。     

Governing the Circular Economy in the City: Local Planning Practice in London

ABSTRACT

There is interest in the circular economy as a framework for transition from a linear take-make-dispose model of production and consumption, to a circular model which decouples economic growth from resource consumption. However, there is limited understanding of how that applies to the city through governance lens. This paper examines evidence from 28 municipalities in London to unpack the ‘government’ and ‘governance’ of circular economy in the city. It examines the ‘governmentality’ of circular economy in planning practice and reflects on what austerity localism and scalar politics might mean for the planning and governance of circular economy in cities.     

审计委员会治理：防范校企合作创新中逆向选择风险的作用

本文运用博弈论基本原理和模型,描述了校企合作创新中技术交易行为的整个博弈均衡过程.指明和阐释了逆向选择现象的形成机理,进而探讨如何发挥审计委员会等的监督和治理作用,以降低和防范逆向选择行为的发生.     

Technology roadmapping for technology-based product-service integration: A case study

Today, since a single product is no longer sufficient to cope with the dynamic market environment, firms are trying to provide the integrated offering of products and services. However, despite the importance and utility of product-service integration, a limited approach has been conducted regarding the planning of the strategic management of integrated offering. To deal with this issue, this paper firstly suggests the concept and typology of technological interface in product-service integration. Based on the technological interface, a generic structure of product-service integrated roadmap is developed. Extended from the generic structure, this paper finally proposes the typological configurations of integrated roadmap according to the technological interface and investigates the usage, characteristics, and roadmapping processes.