Warum suchen Biotechnologieunternehmen strategische Allianzen? Eine experimentelle Untersuchung

Zusammenfassung  In diesem Beitrag werden die Faktoren untersucht, die zur Allianzbildung junger Biotechnologieunternehmen beitragen. Aus einer ressourcenorientierten Perspektive wird argumentiert, dass die Entscheidung von Managern, Partnerunternehmen für neue Allianzen zu suchen, von der Ressourcensituation ihres Unternehmens und den Ressourcenanforderungen bzw. -akquisitionsm?glichkeiten der Umwelt abh?ngen. Eine Analyse von 1664 Allianzentscheidungen aus einem Conjoint-Experiment mit 52 Top-Managern der deutschen Biotechnologiebranche zeigt, dass fehlende finanzielle Ressourcen die Haupttriebkraft sind. Au?erdem zeigt sich, dass für die meisten Manager fehlende, für manche Manager jedoch vorhandene Ressourcen eine st?rkere Triebkraft der Allianzsuche darstellen Diese Ergebnisse erweitern die wissenschaftliche Literatur über strategische Allianzen und haben Implikationen für die Managerpraxis.

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Why do biotechnology firms seek strategic alliances? An experimental study

Summary  In this article we draw on a resource-based perspective to analyze the drivers for strategic alliance formation in the biotechnology industry. We state that the decisions of managers to seek out new alliance partners depend on the resource endowments of their ventures as well as the resource demands and opportunities the environment places for them. We use a conjoint experiment to collect data on 1664 alliance decisions nested within 52 top managers of German biopharmaceutical ventures. Our data show that missing financial resources are the strongest driver. Moreover, we find that whereas for most managers missing resources are drivers of alliance search, a minority of managers is more motivated by a strong resource position of their ventures. Our results extend the literature on strategic alliances and have implications for practitioners.

Danksagung: Der Autor dankt zwei anonymen Gutachtern für ihre hilfreichen Kommentare. Das Projekt wurde durch ein EXIST-HighTEPP-Stipendium des Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung gef?rdert.     

CEO human capital,top management teams,and the acquisition of venture capital in new technology ventures: An empirical analysis

We combine signalling and human capital theory to analyze how competencies of new venture CEOs impact the amount of money technology ventures acquire in venture capital (VC) financing rounds. Using data on 117 financing events in the biotechnology industry, we show that education in management, founder-based firm-specific experience, international experience, and industry-specific experience of the CEO impact the VCs’ financial commitments. Moreover, we find that the effects of management education and industry experience are moderated by the size of the venture's top management team. We discuss the implications of these findings for the research literature on technology ventures and venture capital.     

Gender Differences for Specific Body Regions When Looking at Men and Women

The goal of the present study was to provide first evidence for gender differences in gaze patterns while looking at the body of men and women. For this purpose participants were exposed to 30 pictures of 15 male and 15 female models in casual clothing. The individual scan paths were recorded using an eye-tracker. The results show that both male and female observers primarily gaze at people’s face. Only after this initial face-scan, men look significantly earlier and longer at women’s breasts, while women look earlier at men’s legs. These observations uncover important aspects of the pattern of the human gaze at others and particularly reveal important gender differences.     

On demographic transition,structural change,and economic growth and stagnation

The paper analyzes an economy with an agrarian and an industrial sector. Demand is determined by Engel's Law. Population growth follows a non‐linear income dependent path according to the theory of demographic transition. In case of decreasing returns to scale in the agrarian sector the existence of a stable low‐income equilibrium with high population growth can be shown. If this equilibrium is globally unstable, the system evolves towards a steady‐state of perpetual economic growth and low population growth. The path of demographic transition coincides with a path of structural change from an economy specialized in agriculture to a fully industrialized economy. The introduction of an income dependent savings rate allows the interpretation of the low‐income equilibrium as a limit cycle and, therefore, the explanation of high fluctuations in population growth and per capita income in least developed economies.     

Subjective health and its relationship with working time variables and job stressors: Sequence or general factor model?

Abstract

This study compares two theoretical models that make different assumptions about the structure of subjective health constructs and about the effects of job stressors and working time variables on health. The first model, the sequence model, is based on sequential models of the development of ill-health and posits that chronic fatigue and sleep problems mediate the effects of job stressors and working time variables on depression and somatic complaints. The second model, the general strain factor model, posits that specific health constructs (e.g. fatigue, depression, and somatic complaints) are reflections of a common general strain factor (i.e. detrimental job conditions increase the individual's sensitization to strain). In this way the study expands traditional models of stress-related effects on health. The analyses were carried out in a sample of 365 individuals in Germany. Although both models fitted the data, the general strain factor model was found to be superior. Furthermore, the effects of job stressors and working time on the health constructs fatigue and sleep quality were mediated by the general strain factor. Also, a negative relationship emerged between working time duration and general strain. It is suggested that the general strain model could be useful in future health psychology research.     

Vertrauensunterstützung für sozio-technische ubiquitäre Systeme

Trust has been shown as a crucial factor for the adoption of new technologies. Surprisingly, trust literature offers very little guidance for systematically integrating the vast amount of behavioral trust results into the development of computing systems. The aim of this article is to develop a method for deriving trust supporting components for ubiquitous computing systems. The method is used to derive four trust supporting components for a ubiquitous restaurant recommendation system. Afterwards, the system is evaluated using a laboratory experiment with 166 undergraduate students. The results show that the users’ trust as well as their intention to use the system could be significantly increased. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first article developing and evaluating a method for systematically integrating the behavioral trust results into the development of a computing system and its value.     

Bayesian D-optimal designs for exponential regression models

We consider the Bayesian D-optimal design problem for exponential growth models with one, two or three parameters. For the one-parameter model conditions on the shape of the density of the prior distribution and on the range of its support are given guaranteeing that a one-point design is also Bayesian D-optimal within the class of all designs. In the case of two parameters the best two-point designs are determined and for special prior distributions it is proved that these designs are Bayesian D-optimal. Finally, the exponential growth model with three parameters is investigated. The best three-point designs are characterized by a nonlinear equation. The global optimality of these designs cannot be proved analytically and it is demonstrated that these designs are also Bayesian D-optimal within the class of all designs if gamma-distributions are used as prior distributions.     

Trend-Soziologismen

An excursive contentanalysis of the media suggests evidence of a strong and widespread public interest concerning sociological issues: the quest for social positioning, cultural and economic change or practical “tools” for management and marketing. But this public need for sociological explanation and consulting is only to a minot degree satisfied by professional sociologists. The majority of the media-released results are distributed by representatives of a profession named “trend-“ or “future-research”. A closer look at the work and publication-strategies of these consultants indicated that the most active protagonists like Matthias Horx not only claim to be “sociologists”, but undertake strong attacks against professional and academic sociology and social scientists. The claim to conduct authentic sociological research and using techniques of “social research” helps to legitimate the publication of the superficial results of this sociologistic research in newspapers, magazines, and media-websites. Thus for professional sociology the question arises what to fo and how to react. One strategy could repeat the practice of the so called “Third Culture” of the international science-community’s members who have started a widely renowned public discourse to meet public demands of being scientifically informed.