Casting a Wide Net for Innovation: Mediating Effect of R&D Human and Social Capital to Unlock the Value from Alliance Portfolio Diversity

This paper examines the performance effects associated with different alliance portfolio configurations in terms of geographical location and partner type. Based on these distinctions, the authors hypothesize that more diverse alliance portfolios enable firms to gain and exploit innovation opportunities. Additionally, the mediating effects of R&D human and social capital on the R&D alliance portfolio diversity–innovation performance relationship are explored. The authors reason that the absorptive capacity of R&D intellectual capital determines a firm's potential gains from highly diverse alliance portfolios. From panel data of manufacturing firms in Spain for the period 2008–2013, the results confirm the inverted U‐shaped relationship between alliance portfolio diversity and firm innovation performance, implying that both insufficient and excessive alliance portfolio diversity may be detrimental to firm innovativeness. Additionally, R&D human and social capital partially mediates the R&D alliance diversity–innovation performance relationship, emphasizing the importance of internal capabilities to leverage the benefits of highly diverse alliance portfolios. These findings add a dynamic dimension to the conceptualization of alliance portfolios and how firms create value by balancing explorative and exploitative alliances.     

动态环境下联盟竞合、治理机制与创新绩效的关系研究

本文从竞合视角审视联盟组合,结合动态关系观探讨有效的联盟治理机制,揭示了联盟组合中竞合关系(横向竞合、纵向竞合)、治理机制(契约治理、关系治理)和创新绩效之间的关系,并考察了动态环境特征(技术波动、竞争强度)的二次调节作用。在不同的竞合关系中,由于合作和竞争的强度不同,契约治理与关系治理机制的作用也存在差异,同时,治理机制与创新绩效之间的关系也受到两种不同环境动态性特征的影响。研究结果显示,在纵向竞合中,运用关系治理比运用契约治理能更好地提升创新绩效,技术波动正向调节契约治理、关系治理与创新绩效间的关系。在横向竞合中,运用契约治理比运用关系治理有效,竞争强度加强了契约治理对创新绩效的影响,即关系治理在波动的环境中更有效,契约治理在竞争的环境中更有效。本文为企业开展研发联盟组合管理提供了新的视角和管理对策。     

Entrepreneurial Firms and Downstream Alliance Partnerships: Impact of Portfolio Depth and Scope on Technology Innovation and Commercialization Success

To achieve technology innovation and commercialization (TIC) success under complex, protracted, and uncertain product development cycles, entrepreneurial firms engage in downstream alliance partnerships with mainstream industry players. In this study, we examine two specific characteristics of the entrepreneurial firm's downstream alliance portfolio (depth and scope) and their impact on TIC success. Employing a sample of 728 biotech firms and their partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, we find that while portfolio depth and scope separately have positive impact on success, the relationship between portfolio scope and success is additionally moderated by portfolio depth. Further, insights from post hoc interviews also suggest that though it is challenging for entrepreneurial firms to incorporate both depth and scope in alliance partnerships, those that optimally combine both can achieve higher TIC success.     

Coping with Diversity in Alliances for Innovation: The Role of Relational Social Capital and Knowledge Codifiability

Alliances are increasingly considered a key element for innovation, especially in knowledge‐intensive firms. While this is true, the mere membership to alliances does not explain innovation performance, and thus the alliance's characteristics that determine high performance must be examined. This research address the question of how the diversity of partners in a certain alliance for innovation affects innovation performance, and how this influence can be moderated by certain characteristics, such as the relational dimension of social capital and the type of knowledge shared among partners. The empirical analysis of a sample of 90 biotech companies shows that there is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between alliance partner diversity and innovation performance and confirms the positive moderating effects of relational social capital and knowledge codifiability. These findings contribute to the current research on alliances for innovation by providing empirical evidence on why some alliances perform better than others. Also, the results suggest that the study of alliance partner diversity, as a determinant of alliance performance, should not be addressed in isolation.     

Heterogeneity,diversity and complementarity in alliance portfolios

The divergence that a firm manages to achieve because of its partners is a fundamental question in an alliance portfolio configuration. Diversity can refer not only to the differences between the focal firm and its partners or between the partners themselves but also to the differences arising from various resource endowments in the alliance portfolio. Understanding the significance of these different sources, how they interrelate, and how they affect the firm performance is an unresolved question as unclear definitions and opposing arguments are proposed. This paper expounds the concepts of partner heterogeneity, alliance portfolio diversity, and network resource complementarity to gain a deeper comprehension of the alliance portfolio configuration and how it affects performance. Our analysis of airline alliances at a global level reveals the central role of resource complementarity in the focal firm performance.     

Open-Innovation Effectiveness: When does the Macro Design of Alliance Portfolios Matter?

We determine the impact of the macro-design of a firm's alliance portfolio on its open-innovation effectiveness. Three elements of macro-design—international, technological, and partner diversity—are theorized to affect the breadth of knowledge sourcing, which is an important facet of open-innovation effectiveness. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 982 firm-years in the biotech industry. We find a U-shaped relationship between knowledge-sourcing breadth and international diversity. We also find that that technological diversity has no impact on knowledge-sourcing breadth. Furthermore, when seeking valuable knowledge, partner diversity is detrimental to knowledge-sourcing breadth.     

R&D alliance portfolio and innovation in an emerging market: The role of business group affiliation and institutional reforms

The role of institutional factors in shaping the outcomes of research and development (R&D) alliance portfolios (APs) is underexplored in the extant literature. This study examines how institutional contingencies in an emerging market context affect the relationship between R&D AP composition (i.e., size and diversity) and firm innovation performance. This study draws on institutional perspective to suggest that business group affiliation (BGA) and institutional reforms positively moderate the relationship between R&D AP composition and innovation performance. A longitudinal empirical investigation conducted on a sample of 185 firms from Indian high-tech sectors, for the period 2003–2015, broadly supports our arguments. This study contributes to the AP and emerging markets literature by highlighting the effects of institutional contingencies of emerging markets on the outcomes of R&D APs.     

不同地域文化下网络搜寻对合作创新绩效的影响

探讨不同类型的网络搜寻对合作创新绩效的影响,分析不同地域文化下该影响效应的差异性;在梳理相关文献的基础上,将技术创新网络背景下企业的网络搜寻归结为知识搜寻、关系搜寻和惯例搜寻3种类型;在陕西、江苏和广东三地选择具有较强研发合作强度和深度的典型行业实证调研,运用多元回归等方法进行统计检验分析。研究结果表明,知识搜寻与合作创新绩效之间的正向相关关系在三地样本中均得到检验,江苏样本的系数最大;陕西和江苏样本中关系搜寻与合作创新绩效之间存在倒U形关系,广东样本中仅正向关系通过显著性检验;陕西样本中惯例搜寻被视为破坏现有合作关系、不利于合作创新绩效的提升,而其余两地的样本均验证了惯例搜寻与合作创新绩效的正向关系。     

The influence of CEO equity incentives on licensing

In a study of life science firms, we find that, in accordance with predictions drawn from agency theory and behavioral agency theory, CEO stock ownership is negatively associated with licensing while CEO stock options are positively associated with licensing. Furthermore, by combining theoretical insights from the capabilities literature with both agency theory and behavioral agency theory, we predict that a key measure of capabilities in the licensing context—a firm's alliance experience—significantly influences the ways in which CEO equity incentives impact licensing. More specifically, we find that, in accordance with our theoretical predictions, alliance experience positively (negatively) moderates the relationship between CEO stock ownership (CEO stock options) and licensing. Our study contributes to the wider literature on the determinants of licensing by examining whether licensing is sensitive to CEO equity incentives. We also extend the capabilities literature on licensing by examining the contrasting influences of a firm's alliance experience on the relationship between CEO equity incentives and licensing. Our findings also inform behavioral agency-based research on the effects of equity incentives by highlighting the usefulness of a capabilities perspective in augmenting our understanding of the behavioral role of CEO equity incentives.     

知识权力对技术创新网络治理绩效的影响研究

以中国R&D联盟中的企业为研究对象,将关系质量作为中介变量引入企业知识权力与技术创新网络治理绩效之间,实证研究并分析关系质量在知识权力与网络治理绩效之间的中介作用。研究结果表明,企业间关系质量在知识权力3种类型(专家权、奖赏权与强制权)与网络治理绩效之间具有较强的中介作用,从而证明技术创新网络治理的本质是基于知识权力的网络组织间关系治理。     

Technological alliance portfolio configuration and firm performance

Firms pursuing technological alliances to gain competitive advantages have become a ubiquitous phenomenon in today’s business environment. This article examines which technological alliance portfolio configuration is better for focal firm performance using a portfolio rather than a dyadic perspective. To assess technological alliance portfolio effects on Korean pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, we adopted three explanatory variables—number of alliances, number of partners, and spanning structural holes. The growth rate of revenue and the growth rate of profit are used as dependent variables. We identify two characteristics of technological alliance portfolios from the two-step generalized method of moments estimates. First, we find that between two firms with the same number of alliances, the firm with the larger number of partners would have a better performance. This result is unlike those in previous studies because it distinguishes between the number of alliances and number of partners based on the network theory. Second, we find that spanning structural holes affects firm performance rather like a double-edge sword—it positively affects the growth rate of profit but negatively affects the growth rate of revenue of firms. In short, spanning structural holes is simultaneously beneficial for firm profitability and unfavorable for firm growth. This result differs from those of earlier studies because it shows that a firm spanning structural holes among alliance partners produces either a positive or a negative effect, suggesting that a firm should vary its strategy depending on whether it prioritizes profitability or growth.     

Contextual leadership,transformational leadership and the performance of international innovation seeking alliances

In this paper, we examined aspects of contextual leadership [Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G., & Jauch, L. R. (2002). Toward a contextual theory of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 797–837] and transformational leadership [Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press] by alliance heads and by executives in the sponsoring firms for a sample of innovation seeking U.S./Japanese alliances in research-intensive sectors. We identified three aspects of performance (a) alliance innovation, (b) the strategic contributions to the U.S. sponsor and (c) the strategic contributions to the Japanese sponsor. We found that (a) knowledge/ information based (contextual dimensions) leadership by the alliance head was associated with higher innovation and strategic contributions to the sponsors and (b) transformational leadership by sponsoring executives was dysfunctional for alliance innovation but contributed positively to the strategic contribution the alliance provided a sponsor and, (c) the linkage between leadership by the alliance head and performance was much more important for some types of alliance governance (administrative) structures than others. That is, we argue that appropriate leadership is embedded in its context.     

What affects new venture firm’s innovation more in corporate venture capital?

Although corporate venture capital (CVC) is a potential source of innovation, few studies have directly examined the impact of a parent company’s knowledge and resources on a new venture firm’s innovation performance. This article investigates the impact of experience with parent’s alliance and investment intensity on the extent to which new ventures in the U.S. use their parents’ knowledge and financial resources for their innovation activities at the inception of the CVC relationship over a 44-year period. Our findings suggest that ventures with alliance experience draw more on collaboration knowledge and relational capital, while investment intensity also increases innovation. At a low level of investment complexity, the use of alliance experience and investment intensity is positively related to innovation performance. However, when a parent company has high investment complexity for innovation performance, investment intensity and alliance experience are less effective. Our results, thus, unveil the CVC backing associated with the innovation of new venture firms.     

基金持股的创新偏好与基金业绩研究

作为经济增长的重要推动力,企业创新持续吸引了政府、学者与媒体的关注.尽管研究表明创新会提升企业长期业绩,然而,在基金绩效评估中,针对基金经理对创新企业的偏好及其经济后果的研究依然较少.本文利用我国开放式基金的投资组合数据,考察基金偏好投资于创新型公司是否能提升基金业绩,并进一步基于基金特征与基金经理交易能力,深入探讨前述发现的横截面差异.研究发现:偏好投资于创新型公司的基金在长期能够创造更高的超额收益;基金的行业偏好、团队基金经理以及投资组合集中程度对基金投资于创新型公司存在正面影响.本文的结论对于投资者、基金公司以及监管部门在投资实践中如何评估创新型公司的影响提供了明确的政策借鉴.     

资源互补对机会主义和战略联盟绩效的影响研究

20世纪80年代以来,全球战略联盟的数量激增,逐步成为企业的快速成长方式,但其失败率也非常高。本文以资源依赖理论和交易成本理论为基础,以中国企业为样本,从资源互补和机会主义的角度分析了合作与竞争对联盟绩效的影响。实证研究的结果表明,联盟中的资源互补能够提高联盟的财务绩效与创新,而机会主义则会负向影响财务绩效和创新。同时,适度的资源互补是有效遏制机会主义的手段,过高或过低的资源互补都会使联盟企业处于机会主义的风险之中,即资源互补和机会主义之间的关系呈倒U型的关系。     

Making more of alliance portfolios: The role of alliance portfolio coordination

Alliance portfolios enable firms to access and integrate multiple resources from different, simultaneous partners. We assess the extent to which alliance portfolio coordination benefits focal firms along three alliance portfolio characteristics: alliance portfolio size, the complementarity of the resources available through the portfolio, and the degree to which relation-specific investments are made across the portfolio. Based on a questionnaire completed by 444 Dutch companies, we found that the three portfolio characteristics play an important role in creating benefits for focal firms through their portfolios. Additionally, our findings suggest that alliance portfolio coordination is an important element in dealing with the challenge of managing portfolios, in that it shapes the effect of the other portfolio characteristics.     

竞合视角下高技术企业创新联盟稳定性研究

从竞合的理论视角出发,运用演化博弈理论,通过构建高技术企业创新联盟成员企业竞合关系的演化博弈模型,分析信任度、互补度、风险系数以及合作创新贴现因子等因素对创新联盟稳定性的影响,并运用Matlab对上述因素的影响进行了数值仿真。结果表明,较高的信任度和互补度可以提高联盟成员间的合作意愿,保障联盟的稳定运行;较高的合作创新贴现因子通过降低联盟成员未来收益的不确定性,增强了合作伙伴间进行长期合作的信心,维持了联盟的稳定运行;由于较高的风险系数增加了合作创新的风险成本,导致联盟成员间合作关系可能演变为竞争关系,从而阻碍了联盟的稳定发展。最后,根据演化博弈分析结果提出了相关建议。     

联盟管理实践获取与联盟成功：被调节的中介效应

近年来,企业间战略联盟在全世界范围内越来越普遍。联盟的高失败率使企业界和理论界人士开始关注如何实现联盟成功。在长期的联盟活动中,联盟企业都积累了各自独特的一整套被称为联盟管理实践的方法、流程和技能,以提高联盟管理能力、实现联盟预期目标。依据组织学习和关系理论,联盟企业能够从合作伙伴那里获取有价值的联盟管理实践并将其应用于自身的联盟管理活动,这一过程必然有益于联盟管理。然而,鲜有研究探讨联盟管理实践获取行为对联盟成功的影响。 基于以上考虑,引入联盟管理能力和共同行动两个概念,分别作为中介变量和调节变量,构建一个被调节的中介效应模型,以更好地揭示联盟管理实践获取对联盟成功的作用机理。为了检验上述被调节的中介效应模型及相关的作用机理,利用从中国大陆收集的调研数据进行实证研究。最终的样本包含205家联盟企业,且每家企业有两位关键信息提供者,综合采用逐步线性回归和被调节的路径分析方法验证假设。 研究结果表明,联盟管理实践获取通过联盟管理能力这一中介机制最终促进联盟成功,共同行动正向调节联盟管理能力与联盟成功的关系,存在假设中的被调节的中介效应。也就是说,联盟管理实践获取对联盟成功的影响需要通过提升联盟管理能力来实现;同时,联盟双方共同行动水平越高,这一过程越容易实现。 联盟管理实践获取为解释联盟成功的作用机理提供了一个新的视角,拓展了联盟管理能力方面的研究,尤其表现为同时关注联盟管理能力的前因和结果,将组织学习理论和关系理论统一整合到联盟成功研究的框架下,这可视为两大理论的创新性应用。此外,研究结果为现实中联盟企业实现联盟成功指出一条新路,即从合作伙伴处获取有价值的联盟管理实践以促进联盟成功。     

知识积累、知识激活与创新能力关系研究

关于知识与创新间的关系,现有研究多强调不同类型知识对创新总体绩效的影响差异,较少关注同一知识基对创新微观过程的不同阶段是否具有同等影响。针对这一理论缺口,本研究首先建构了知识积累与基于创新微观过程的企业创新能力间关系模型,并利用问卷调查获得的419份国内企业数据、利用层次回归方法进行实证检验。研究发现：企业知识积累对创新能力具有显著提升作用,并且这种积极效应贯穿在创新的整个微观过程中;分别以内、外组织学习为特征的不同知识激活机制在促进知识贡献于创新不同阶段能力提升过程中具有不同影响。本文最后讨论了理论贡献、管理意义及局限。     

The Impact of Alliance Management Capabilities on Alliance Attributes and Performance: A Literature Review

The literature on alliances has identified a variety of inter‐firm antecedents of performance, including information and knowledge sharing between partners, shared partner understanding, and a focus on collective objectives. Recent studies have focused on alliance management capabilities (AMC) – firms' abilities to capture, share, store and apply alliance management knowledge – as an important antecedent of performance. This paper reviews 90 studies on AMC and makes two important contributions to the literature. First, the review provides an overview of and classification scheme for the different types of AMC to better organise the diverse empirical findings that have been presented in the literature. The novel classification distinguishes between general and partner‐specific AMC and between AMC stored within the firm and within the alliance. Second, consistent with the dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper offers a more detailed understanding of why AMC improve performance, by highlighting the intermediate impact of AMC on alliance attributes. In particular, the review demonstrates how the different categories of AMC influence alliances in terms of information and knowledge‐sharing between partners, shared partner understanding and the pursuit of collective goals. The review also demonstrates that these attributes improve performance. The authors note promising avenues for future empirical research that involve combining the classification scheme with research on the impact of AMC on alliance attributes and performance.