Corporate incubators : promoting disruptive innovation and competitive advantage to mitigate the innovator’s dilemma? : the comparative cases of Bosch’s grow platform GmbH and Deutsche Bahn’s DB intrapreneurs

The global business environment is fast-changing with novel technologies and new entrants constantly altering the rules of the game. Many incumbents find their leadership positions increasingly precarious and threatened. In recent years, corporate entrepreneurship, or entrepreneurship from within, has gained importance as a strategy that potentially resolves this threat for companies. Many authors have established positive correlations between corporate entrepreneurship and firm performance. As a result, intrapreneurship has become more and more attractive. One of the many forms of corporate entrepreneurship is the corporate incubator which aims to increase innovativeness and business model development in companies. This thesis analyzes corporate incubator programs with regard to their innovativeness, ability to create competitive advantages to determine whether they are a viable solution to the so-called innovator’s dilemma proposed by Christensen (1997). To this end, a comparative case study approach was adopted with two representative institutions within German corporates analyzed. The results suggest that those programs are able to foster innovativeness and the entrepreneurial mindset in their parent companies and that they do also contribute to the parent’s competitiveness. Although they cannot completely eliminate it, corporate incubators can further aid in mitigating the innovator’s dilemma. Research question: Do corporate incubators and intrapreneurship promote (disruptive) innovation and competitive advantage to mitigate the innovator’s dilemma? – the comparative cases of Bosch’s grow platform GmbH and Deutsche Bahn’s DB Intrapreneurs.O ambiente de negócios global está em rápida mudança com novas tecnologias e novos competidores alterando constantemente as regras do jogo. Muitos dos operadores em exercício consideram as suas posições de liderança mais precárias e ameaçadas. Nos últimos anos, o empreendedorismo empresarial ganhou importância como estratégia que potencialmente resolve esta ameaça para as empresas. Muitos autores estabeleceram correlações positivas entre o empreendedorismo empresarial e o desempenho da empresa. Como resultado, o empreendedorismo intra-empresarial tornou-se cada vez mais atraente. Uma das formas de empreendedorismo corporativo é a incubadora de empresas que visa aumentar a inovação e o desenvolvimento do modelo de negócios nas empresas. Esta tese analisa os programas de incubadoras de empresas no que diz respeito à sua capacidade de inovação, capacidade de criar vantagens competitivas para determinar se são uma solução viável para o dilema do inovador proposto pela Christensen (1997). Para tanto, foi adotada uma abordagem de estudo de caso comparativo com duas instituições representativas dentro das corporações alemãs analisadas. Os resultados sugerem que esses programas são capazes de fomentar a inovação e a mentalidade empreendedora em suas empresas-mãe e que contribuem para a competitividade da matriz. Embora não possam eliminá-lo completamente, as incubadoras de empresas podem ajudar ainda mais a mitigar o dilema do inovador. Pergunta de pesquisa: As incubadoras de empresas e o empreendedorismo intraempresarial promovem a inovação (disruptiva) e a vantagem competitiva para mitigar o dilema do inovador? - os casos comparativos da grow platform GmbH da Bosch e da DB Intrapreneurs da Deutsche Bahn

Antecedents and implications of disruptive innovation: Evidence from China

A growing recognition of the importance of disruptive innovation has led researchers to examine the question of how disruptive innovation comes about and to what extent it reflects "discovery" versus "creation" of opportunities. Earlier research has focused on the organisational preconditions for disruptive innovation to arise. Much less attention has been paid to the role of innovation processes, including their goals and design, in promoting disruptive innovation. In this paper we aim to begin to fill this gap by better understanding how new innovation processes can act as antecedents for disruptive innovation. We adopt an inductive theory-building methodology using a set of case studies of Chinese firms to develop propositions about how novel R&D and production processes can foster disruptive innovation. We find that in the case of China the adoption of new innovation processes that re-define the focus of innovation and re-engineer traditional R&D processes in ways that allow the novel deployment of Chinese cost advantages can create offerings that incorporate the key elements of disruptive innovation in the sense that they challenge incumbents' established business models. Realising disruptive innovation opportunities requires proactive initiatives. We conclude by discussing the managerial implications and possible responses as well as directions for future research

Characteristics of disruptive innovation within the medical device industry

Thesis (S.M.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-61).Innovation within the medical device industry had led to tremendous advances in the provision of care for patients worldwide. Continued progress in the treatment of disease will require effective processes for managing and analyzing innovation within this industry. Popular models of innovation exist for many industries outside of the medical realm; however, an extensive literature search uncovered a limited body of work related to innovation within the medical device industry. Specifically, literature that examines the application of the principles of disruptive innovation to the medical device industry is limited in scope and in quantity. It is theorized that the medical device industry may have unique characteristics for disruptive innovation due to the unique economic and regulatory structures that exist within this industry. This thesis applies the principles of disruptive innovation that were popularized by Clayton Christenson's seminal work, "The Innovator's Dilemma", to the medical device industry. These characteristics are subsequently delineated and evaluated through examination of the prosthetic cardiac valve industry. This industry serves as an effective case study due to the long history of innovation and the emergence of new disruptive technology within this specialty. The categorization of a "disruptive" innovation was made when a given technology altered the value proposition for treating a disease, relative to incumbent technology. This case study was evaluated along metrics of performance characteristics, the perception of leading customers, the ability to prospectively analyze markets, and the profitability of disruptive innovation for the incumbent firm. Conclusions were reached based on an examination of relevant literature and primary research conducted with thought leaders in this area. This research supports the conclusion that the cardiac valve industry has experienced unique characteristics in the development and commercialization of disruptive innovations. Specifically, incentives appear to exist within this industry that support development and commercialization of disruptive innovations by industry incumbents. Furthermore, the importance of understanding what value proposition is being disrupted is paramount in effectively understanding the incentives of manufacturers to innovate. When a technology is developed that is disruptive to a procedure, then the manufacturer tends to behave similar to a "newentrant" within the Christenson framework. This appears to also be true when the innovation is disruptive to that manufacturer's legacy products. Additional research is warranted in extrapolating this finding to the broader medical device industry.by David B. Berlin.S.M

International orientation and export performance: exploring the moderating effect of innovative capacity, market dynamism, and a favorable business environment

Las nuevas empresas internacionales específicamente las Born Global se ha convertido en objeto de investigación debido al éxito que tienen en las operaciones internacionales, a pesar de su naciente internacionalización y limitados recursos. En este sentido, la importancia de analizar las características que hacen de las Born Global empresas exitosas, hace que este estudio pretenda analizar la influencia de la orientación internacional en el desempeño exportador de las empresas Born Global. Adicionalmente, ante la importancia del ámbito internacional para entrar en nuevos mercados, otros factores son analizados como la capacidad de innovación, el dinamismo del mercado y la favorabilidad del entorno. Para este fin, en este artículo se utiliza un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales permitiendo demostrar que la orientación internacional es un fuerte movilizador del desempeño exportador de las Born Global. Sin embargo, esta relación es moderada por la capacidad de innovación, el dinamismo y la favorabilidad del entorno logrando un alto efecto en la relación entre desempeño exportado cuando la orientación internacional es complementado por estas variables.New international enterprises that are referred to as Born Global have become the subject of research due to the success of their global operations, despite their early internationalization and limited resources. Given the importance of analyzing the characteristics that make Born Global companies successful, this study examines the influence of international orientation on the export performance of Born Global companies. Additionally, given the importance of international guidance for entering new markets, other factors, such as innovative capacity, the dynamism of the market and the favorability of the environment, are included. By estimating a structural equation model, the results show that international orientation is a strong driver of the export performance of Born Global companies. However, this relationship is moderated by innovative capacity and the dynamism of and favorability of the environment, thus achieving a greater effect on export performance when international orientation is complemented by these other variables

Critical Innovations in the UK Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Equity Alternative Finance Markets for Small Firm Growth

© The Author(s) 2016. The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation by Sage Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. It is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1465750316655906This paper examines the disruptive nature of financial innovations available to small firms by the growing range of online platforms that have emerged in the UK since the financial crisis. It is unveiled that finance provided to small firms via such mechanisms is not identical to more traditional sources and its adoption therefore cannot be said to be simply a question of direct substitution based, for example, on a price comparison. These offer a series of important advantages over more traditional sources of early-stage capital for entrepreneurs seeking funding. Service innovations around security, flexibility of terms, speed of access and transparency of pricing are as important as price considerations for many users, as are innovations made possible by the way these online markets are structured and in particular in the way these innovative structures allow important types of risk to be dispersed and mitigated.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Efficiency-centered, innovation-enabling business models of high tech SMEs: evidence from Hong Kong

High technology small and medium-sized enterprises are compelled to innovate to differentiate themselves from their competitors but at the same time be efficient, as they do not have economies of scale enjoyed by larger organizations. This qualitative study explores this paradoxical challenge faced by Hong Kong SMEs in designing their business model to strike such a balance. In doing so, it investigates the competencies of these firms in technology management and their innovation practices. It is found that third party technologies that subscribe to international standards play a prominent role in the SME’s technology repertoire, as they are keen to leverage upon the effects of network externalities and other positive spillover effects. Although the firms’ business models enable product innovation, they also need to take efficiency into account to ensure that marketing and customer-intelligence are swiftly incorporated into their technology management and product development processes resulting in cyclic, incremental innovations. Our findings of efficiency-centered, innovation-enabling business models provide a more nuanced view of business model design in that efficiency and innovation need not be mutually exclusive. Four modalities of such business models are also identified: Focused, complementary, integrated innovation, and e-commerce-supported. These designs play an important role in enhancing product quality and performance, reducing time to market, developing new markets, and improving customer relationship and satisfaction

누가 가족 기업을 이끌 것인가? 가족 기업의 성과에 대한 내부승계와 CEO 임기기간의 조절효과를 중심으로

학위논문 (석사) -- 서울대학교 대학원 : 경영대학 경영학과, 2020. 8. 박철순.Prior research into family firms shows inconclusive and inconsistent findings related to the relationship between family-owned firms and financial performance. Since the effect of family ownership on performance is likely to differ across regions, it is necessary to investigate the family effect on firm performance in different contexts. Thus, in this study, I examine the impact of family ownership on a family firms performance using a sample of companies listed in KOSPI from the year 2013 to 2016. Also, to reveal idiosyncratic challenges and problems of family-owned firms, I examine negative moderating the effects of inside succession and CEO tenure on the relationship between family-owned firms and financial performance. In sum, I attempt to resolve conflicting views on the effect family ownership on the financial performance in addition to examining the moderating effects of the succession process and CEO tenure. This study shows that family ownership is positively associated with financial performance. Also, this study depicts that inside succession and CEO tenure have negative moderating effects on the family firms financial performance. The theory and evidence from a sample of 460 firms and 1,466 observations suggest that family firm type interacts with inside succession and CEO succession to negatively influence firm return on assets (ROA).가족 기업에 대한 이전의 연구는 가족 기업과 재무 성과의 관계에 대해 일관적이지 않은 결과를 보여준다. 가족 소유권이 성과에 미치는 영향은 나라마다 다를 수 있으므로 다른 배경에서 기업 성과에 대한 가족 기업의 영향을 조사해야 한다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 2013년부터 2016년까지 KOSPI에 상장된 회사 샘플을 사용하여 가족 소유권이 기업의 성과에 미치는 영향을 한국을 배경으로 조사하였으며, 가족 소유 기업의 특유의 과제와 문제점을 밝히기 위해 가족 소유 기업과 재무 성과의 관계에 대한 내부 승계와 CEO 임기기간의 조절효과를 검토하였다. 460개 기업의 데이터를 분석한 결과에 따르면 가족 소유가 재무 성과와 긍정적으로 관련되어 있으며, 이러한 관계에 대해 CEO의 내부 승계와 긴 임기기간이 부정적인 조절 효과를 일으키는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 가족기업이 후임 CEO를 선택을 할 때 CEO의 내부 승계와 긴 임기기간에 대해 유의해야함을 의미한다.1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. THEORY AND HYPOTHESES 3 2.1 Family Firms, Resource Based View, and Long-term Orientation 3 2.2 The Succession of Family Firm 6 2.3 CEO Tenure and Family Firms 8 3. DATA AND METHODS 11 3.1 Sample: South Korean Firms listed in KOSPI 11 3.2 Dependent Variable 11 3.3 Independent Variable 12 3.4 Moderating Variables 13 3.5 Control Variables 14 3.6 Analysis 14 4. RESULTS 15 5. CONCLUSION 18 6. REFERENCES 21Maste

Toward behavioural innovation economics – Heuristics and biases in choice under novelty

A framework for ‘behavioural innovation economics’ is proposed here as a synthesis of behavioural economics and innovation economics in the specific context of choice under novelty. We seek to apply the heuristics and biases framework of behavioural economics to the study of the innovation process in order to map and analyze systematic choice failures in the innovation process. We elaborate the distinction between choice under uncertainty and choice under novelty, as well as drawing out the ‘efficient innovation hypothesis’ implicit in most behavioural models of innovation. The subject domain of a research program for behavioural innovation economics is then briefly outlined in terms of a catalogue of characteristic ways in which choice under novelty renders innovation processes subject to failure.

Agility in responding to disruptive digital innovation: Case study of an SME

Disruptive digital innovation (DDI) often creates hypercompetitive market environment that forces firms to be agile to survive and remain competitive. Whereas most studies have focused on larger firms' effort to be agile, few have looked at how small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) respond to DDI. The study attempts to answer the research question of how SMEs achieve agility to respond to DDI. Drawing on a case study of an innovative SME, our study develops a framework on agility based on the processes of mitigating organizational rigidity, developing innovative capabilities, and balancing the tension of organizational ambidexterity. Specifically, our findings show that for SMEs, mitigating organizational rigidity is enabled by the mechanism of achieving boundary openness while developing innovative capability is enabled by the mechanism of achieving organizational adaptability. At the same time, given the inherent challenges of resource constraints, SMEs also need to balance the tension of organizational ambidexterity

Crisis-driven innovation: The case of humanitarian innovation

Innovation is often presented as a survival issue and this provides a powerful metaphor to focus attention on the need to manage it effectively. But in the humanitarian context it takes on a very literal meaning. Crises, whether natural or man-made, require rapid problem solving if agencies and aid workers are to avoid the huge negative impacts of such disasters. That makes consideration of how innovation takes place in this sector an urgent challenge. How can the humanitarian sector best organize to enable innovation and what are the roles for key actors – donors, agencies, and most importantly ‘users’? Our paper summarizes the nature of the challenge and reviews experience so far in humanitarian innovation (HI).  There is a second issue which we also explore. Arguably crisis conditions provide a ‘laboratory’ for exploring alternative approaches and generating novel innovation trajectories which might diffuse more widely – the concept of ‘reverse innovation’. Are there lessons which could be learned for mainstream innovation management? And if so, what are the mechanisms which might enable such learning and experience exchange to take place