Pathways of SME internationalization: a bibliometric and systematic review

Business is dynamic and rapidly changing. Global markets were previously the playing field of multinational corporations (MNCs), while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were local; however, the removal of imposed barriers and recent technological advances in manufacturing, transportation, and communications have indorsed SMEs and international entrepreneurs (IEs) global access. SMEs and IEs are increasingly fueling economic growth and innovation, and these trends are presenting both opportunities and challenges to both MNCs and SMEs in the global arena. This review systematically examines comparative SME and IE research, analyzing (after fine-tuning) 762 articles published in leading journals from 1992 to September 2018. Our bibliometric and systematic review classifies SME and IE research findings into three echelons: (i) subjects, (ii) theories, and (iii) methods

External collaborations in multinational pharmaceutical companies

Traditionally, the internal research and development (R&D) departments of multinational companies (MNCs) have served as a main driver of MNCs innovative capacity. Today’s high pace of change and competitive landscape have forced MNCs however to look beyond their organizational boundaries and to involve external organizations in their R&D for technological advancement and innovation. In particular, MNCs are using R&D collaborations as a means to create and access new knowledge. Collaborations are particularly relevant in science-based sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry where R&D mainly relies on complex and basic scientific knowledge. In this sector, the sources of expertise are widely dispersed and drug discovery and development requires coordination between different actors. The globalization trend has facilitated collaborations across long distances and companies have adopted a combination of long and short distance collaborations in their innovation process. The role of geographic proximity in collaboration continues to puzzle researchers. In fact, it may be more complex than previously addressed in the literature, most of which has considered external collaborations in a MNC as a homogenous entity in terms of knowledge. A MNC consists of different R&D units that specialize in different research areas and are active at different stages of the innovation process. Furthermore, a MNC collaborates with a large variety of external organizations and individuals. Thus, R&D collaborations in a MNC can be considered heterogeneous in terms of the knowledge and actors involved. The various types of knowledge and actors well differ in how important the role of geographic proximity is for successful collaborations. This thesis studies the role of geographic proximity in the R&D collaborations of MNCs when creating, accessing and embedding different types of knowledge. In particular, I examine these aspects by differentiating between (1) the nature of knowledge (basic science vs clinical science, core vs explorative knowledge), and (2) the actors involved on the organization level (university, hospital, research institute and company) as well as on the individual level (star scientists). The different levels of analysis describe different aspects of the R&D collaboration and how these affect the internal knowledge of MNCs. I used co-publications and patents as a proxy for R&D collaborations and analysed the role of geographic proximity using descriptive, social network and econometric analysis. The results show an increasing openness of pharmaceutical MNCs to collaborate over the past 20 years in terms of the organizations and countries involved in drug discovery and development. While the main patents behind innovative drugs are still mainly owned by companies themselves, external organizations increasingly contribute indirectly to knowledge creation, as visible from an increasing proportion of cited patents and publications from external organizations. This substitutes for biotech and pharmaceutical companies decreasing investments in R&D. Furthermore, considering the nature of knowledge, the results show that collaborations in basic science and core knowledge areas are more positively affected by geographic proximity than collaborations within clinical science and knowledge exploration of the MNCs. I also find that different types of actors embed different natures of knowledge. The knowledge accessed by MNCs from universities is more positively affected by geographic proximity during the collaborative process, compared to hospitals or companies. However, highly skilled individual scientists who work at MNCs (star scientists), can help to maintain local collaborations. Based on these findings I conclude that the role of geographic proximity in R&D collaborations of MNCs varies between the types of collaboration and must be more precisely assessed distinguishing between each R&D collaboration between a MNC and another organization or actor. This thesis underlines the crucial role of R&D collaborations for MNCs and emphasizes the importance of geography for the R&D management of MNCs to create and access knowledge effectively in collaborations. From a policy perspective, the importance of different knowledge types in R&D collaborations should be kept in mind when facilitating the development of R&D collaborations, particularly when local actors are trying to attract foreign MNCs

Spationomy

This open access book is based on "Spationomy – Spatial Exploration of Economic Data", an interdisciplinary and international project in the frame of ERASMUS+ funded by the European Union. The project aims to exchange interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of economics and geomatics. For the newly introduced courses, interdisciplinary learning materials have been developed by a team of lecturers from four different universities in three countries. In a first study block, students were taught methods from the two main research fields. Afterwards, the knowledge gained had to be applied in a project. For this international project, teams were formed, consisting of one student from each university participating in the project. The achieved results were presented in a summer school a few months later. At this event, more methodological knowledge was imparted to prepare students for a final simulation game about spatial and economic decision making. In a broader sense, the chapters will present the methodological background of the project, give case studies and show how visualisation and the simulation game works

Interactive Overlays: A New Method for Generating Global Journal Maps from Web-of-Science Data

Recent advances in methods and techniques enable us to develop an interactive overlay to the global map of science based on aggregated citation relations among the 9,162 journals contained in the Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index 2009 combined. The resulting mapping is provided by VOSViewer. We first discuss the pros and cons of the various options: cited versus citing, multidimensional scaling versus spring-embedded algorithms, VOSViewer versus Gephi, and the various clustering algorithms and similarity criteria. Our approach focuses on the positions of journals in the multidimensional space spanned by the aggregated journal-journal citations. A number of choices can be left to the user, but we provide default options reflecting our preferences. Some examples are also provided; for example, the potential of using this technique to assess the interdisciplinarity of organizations and/or document sets

Abstraction in Archaeological Stratigraphy: a Pyrenean Lineage of Innovation (late 19th-early 21th century)

Methodological innovations have a special status in disciplinary histories, because they can be widely adopted and anonymised. In the 1950s, this occurred to Georges Laplace's innovative use of 3-dimensional metric Cartesian coordinate system to record the positions of archaeological objects. This paper proposes a conceptual and social history of this process, with a focus on its spatial context, the Pyrenean region (Spain, Basque Country, and France). Main results of this research based on archives, publications, and bibliometric data, include: 1) a critical discussion of the notions concerning authorship of such methodological innovations; 2) a presentation of the lesser-known aspects of Laplace’s method, showing its contribution to the abstraction and formalisation of archaeological observations and data recording; and 3) the identification of an international Pyrenean intellectual lineage of innovation regarding stratigraphy and excavation methods, from the late 19th century to the early 21th century.Les innovations méthodologiques, pouvant être largement adoptées et anonymisées, possèdent un statut particulier dans les historiographies disciplinaires. Ce fut le cas du système de coordonnées Cartésiens métriques employé dès les années 1950 par Georges Laplace pour enregistrer la position des objets archéologiques. Fondé sur ce cas, et accordant une attention particulière à son contexte spatial - l’espace international pyrénéen (Espagne, Pays Basque, France) - cet article propose une histoire conceptuelle et sociale de ce processus. Les résultats de cette recherche, basée sur les publications, des archives, et des données bibliométriques, comprennent : 1) une approche critique de l’attribution d’autorité dans le cas des innovations méthodologiques ; 2) l’analyse d’aspects plus méconnus de la méthode Laplace, et leur contribution au processus d’abstraction et de formalisation des observations et de l’enregistrement des données en archéologie ; 3) la mise en évidence, de la fin du XIXe siècle au début du XXIe siècle, d’un lignage pyrénéen international d’innovation.Las innovaciones metodológicas, que pueden ser ampliamente adoptadas y anonimizadas, tienen un estatus especial en las historiografías disciplinarias. Así, desde los años 1950, Georges Laplace ha utilizado un sistema de coordenadas métricas cartesianas para registrar la posición de los objetos arqueológicos. A partir de este caso, y prestando especial atención a su contexto espacial - el espacio pirenaico internacional (España, País Vasco, Francia) -, este artículo propone una historia conceptual y social de este proceso. Los resultados de esta investigación, basada en publicaciones, archivos y datos bibliométricos, incluyen: 1) un enfoque crítico del reconocimiento de la autoría en el caso de las innovaciones metodológicas; 2) el análisis de los aspectos menos conocidos del método Laplace, y su contribución al proceso de abstracción y formalización tanto de las observaciones como del registrode datos arqueologícos; 3) la identificación, desde finales del siglo XIX hasta principios del siglo XXI, de un linaje pirenaico internacional de innovación

Spationomy

This open access book is based on "Spationomy – Spatial Exploration of Economic Data", an interdisciplinary and international project in the frame of ERASMUS+ funded by the European Union. The project aims to exchange interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of economics and geomatics. For the newly introduced courses, interdisciplinary learning materials have been developed by a team of lecturers from four different universities in three countries. In a first study block, students were taught methods from the two main research fields. Afterwards, the knowledge gained had to be applied in a project. For this international project, teams were formed, consisting of one student from each university participating in the project. The achieved results were presented in a summer school a few months later. At this event, more methodological knowledge was imparted to prepare students for a final simulation game about spatial and economic decision making. In a broader sense, the chapters will present the methodological background of the project, give case studies and show how visualisation and the simulation game works