Change, Coordination, and Capabilities

Empirical studies on coordination of economic activities focused on the two polar cases of governance mode, namely vertical integration and market exchanges. Whether firms should be vertically integrated or lever market exchanges in the face of change is, however, debated. Two positions have emerged. Some scholars argue that the vertically integrated firm is the appropriate mode of coordination when change occurs, while market exchanges are more appropriate for dealing with stable contexts (Teece, 1996). On the other hand, Harrigan (1984, 1985) contends that firms should rely on market exchanges when technological change renders upstream capabilities obsolete. Based on two case studies of the aircraft engine industry, this paper introduces the concept of systems integration as the primary coordination mechanism in-between markets and hierarchies that firms employ to cope with change. The focus is on multitechnology settings. Multitechnology, multicomponent products intensify the coordination efforts for firms developing them and therefore provide a vantage point to study coordination modes in the face of technological change. The paper argues that systems integration, as a coordination mechanism, comprises a set of different technological and organizational skills, ranging from component assembly through the understanding and integration of the technological disciplines underlying a product, to project management. It shows that from a competitive point of view, systems integration is most appropriately understood as knowledge integration. Systems integrating firms are understood as those organizations that set up the network of actors involved in the industry and lead it from an organizational and technological viewpoint.technological change, systems integration, knowledge integration, vertical integration, market exchanges

Complementarity in the innovation strategy: Internal R&D, external technology acquisition, and cooperation in R&D.

Successful innovation depends on the development and integration of new knowledge in the innovation process. In order to successfully innovate, the firm will combine different innovation activities. In addition to doing own research and development, firms typically are engaged in the acquisition of knowledge on the technology market and cooperate actively in R&D with other firms and research organizations. In this paper we show that there exist important complementarities between the different innovation activities. We test complementarity between the innovation activities both directly, through the productivity approach, and indirectly, through the adoption approach. Using data from the Community Innovation Survey on Belgian manufacturing firms, we show that firms that are only engaged in a single innovation strategy, either internal R&D activities or sourcing technology externally, introduced fewer new and substantially improved products compared to firms which combine internal and external sourcing. This result is consistent with complementarity between own R&D and external technology sourcing activities. In the adoption approach we show that the different innovation activities are strongly positively correlated and identify common drivers, resulting in the perceived complementarity between these innovation activities. An important finding is that a more basic R&D base which may serve as an absorptive capacity and a capacity to strategically protect intellectual property are important common drivers for the different innovation activitiesManagement; Innovation strategy

Are external technology acquisition strategies substitutes or complements: The case of embodied and disembodied technology acquisition?.

International; Subsidiaries; Technology diffusion; Technology; Strategy; Working;

Are external technology sourcing strategies substitutes or complements? The case of embodied versus disembodied technology acquisition

This paper analyzes the choice between different external technology sourcing activities of a firm. On the one hand, the firm can acquire new technology which is embodied in personnel. On the other hand, the firm can obtain new technology disembodied through a licensing agreement or by outsourcing the technology development from an R&D contractor. Building on Cassiman and Veugelers (2006), we test whether embodied and disembodied technology acquisitions are complementary activities or rather behave as substitute technology acquisition alternatives. We find that while internal and external technology acquisition are complementary innovation activities, the actual choice of external technology sourcing between embodied or disembodied modes is substitutive for smaller firms. The evidence for larger firms suggests that different external technology sourcing activities are complementary, but in this case the results are suggestive although not strongly significant.Embodied & disembodied technology acquisition; complementarity; substitutability;

Corporate decision-making in R&D outsourcing and the impact on internal R&D employment intensity

This article aims to assess whether firms’ strategies of R&D outsourcing determine changes in their internal R&D employment intensity. Four strategic decisions are investigated: to start, increase, decrease or stop outsourcing. It is found that internal R&D employment intensity decreases when firms decide to start, to increase, or to stop R&D outsourcing. However, this finding hides important differences according to the type and the location of the contractor. In general, firms prefer a mix of different types of contractors at different locations. Started outsourcing of R&D to research centers within the nation and increased R&D outsourcing to research centers within the region appear to decrease the internal R&D employment intensity. Decreasing outsourcing to national universities in another region also has a negative impact on internal R&D employment intensity. A corporate decision to stop R&D outsourcing to other firms within the nation but outside the region has a positive impact on the internal R&D employment intensity. The latter is the only effect that is not only statistically significant but is also substantial in magnitude

State-of-the-art in Power Line Communications: from the Applications to the Medium

In recent decades, power line communication has attracted considerable attention from the research community and industry, as well as from regulatory and standardization bodies. In this article we provide an overview of both narrowband and broadband systems, covering potential applications, regulatory and standardization efforts and recent research advancements in channel characterization, physical layer performance, medium access and higher layer specifications and evaluations. We also identify areas of current and further study that will enable the continued success of power line communication technology.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications. Special Issue on Power Line Communications and its Integration with the Networking Ecosystem. 201

Inter Organizational System flexibility and standardization in innovative services: complementarity, opposition or independence?

This paper examines the orientations of information systems (IOS) between characteristics of flexibility and standardization in the specific case of service innovations. More specifically it investigates the often taken for a fact tension between standardization and flexibility in this context. We explore this issue based on a case study drawn from the banking industry. Evidence is based on data collected over a significant period of time. Results show that in an innovative BPO, standardization and flexibility relationships depend on the level of analysis of the information system and involve a large number of elements that have been only partially considered in the literature