Latecomers’ science-based catch-up in transition: the case of the Korean pharmaceutical industry

This thesis investigates the 25-year transitional process of the Korean pharmaceutical industry from its initial focus on the imitative production of generic drugs to the development of new drugs. The catch-up dynamics of latecomer countries in science-intensive industries, such as the pharmaceutical industry, is an overlooked research topic in existing literature on innovation studies. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of Korea’s science-intensive catch-up and applies an ‘exploration and exploitation’ framework to a latecomer setting and in a novel institutional and market context of the transitional phase. This thesis argues that the rate of change in the transition from imitating drugs to developing new drugs depends on the institutional and organisational mechanisms that enable a new form of technological learning, termed ‘exploratory learning’. This form of learning is often unfamiliar to firms in latecomer countries, whereas it is necessary for producing innovative drugs. That is, latecomers’ institutional and organisational promotion of exploratory learning is related to a ‘pattern change’ in the previously established institutional and organisational routines associated with imitative learning. The findings show that the rate of industrial transition in this sector was constrained by the problematic operation of S&T policies promoting key characteristics of exploratory learning, such as high-risk long-term learning as well as dense interactions between a diverse number of innovation actors. The findings also illuminate some latecomer firms’ initial difficulties in managing the new mode of technological learning, and in strategically applying that mode of learning to overcome the barriers to moving through the transitional phase towards producing competitive innovation. The thesis also suggests that the nature of drugs as integral products, deeply grounded in science, makes it difficult to effectively promote institutional and organisational transformations in favour of exploratory learning

Research on evolution process of EMFs’ international expansion strategy

JEL： M1Under the background of globalization, international expansion of emerging market firms (EMFs) has become an emerging research front in international business research. Based on the Springboard Theory, LLL model and Uppsala internationalization process model, the thesis describes the bidirectional dependency between EMFs technologies and market resources using methods such as event path analysis, multi-case study and process analysis, and establishes an internationalization behavior framework which is based on the two motivations and the two dependable forces. The result shows that: (1) EMFs' two kinds of strategic behaviors of assets-seeking and opportunities-seeking continue to evolve with the development of the enterprise. In the first stage, There is no obvious difference. In the second stage, assets-seeking and opportunities-seeking are alternative dominant. In the third stage, opportunities-seeking are dominant. (2) EMFs' assets-seeking strategies are mainly driven by internal forces, and opportunities-seeking strategies are mainly driven by both internal and external forces; (3) EMFs leveraging international assets and opportunities through external linkage, and balancing their assets and opportunities through alternative domination strategic. (4) The internationalization process of EMFs is an enterprise‘s learning process under repeated linkage and leverage effect. The main contributions of this paper are: (1) to discuss the evolution rules and action mechanism of the two strategic motivations and dependable forces of EMFs in the internationalization process and help to establish clear external decision-making situation and logic for the internationalization of domestic enterprises; (2) to find out the features of EMFs to establish international chains to acquire the external assets and opportunities, and alternate domination features of the two strategies in the internationalization process, and help to better guide the implementation of internationalization strategies of domestic enterprises; (3) to establish an internationalization process model based on repeated linkage and alternate domination, uncover the nature of EMFs‘ internationalization process from the point of resource dependence, explain how to achieve the objective of globalization strategy for EMFS represented by China under late-developing disadvantages, expand the current EMFs-related theoretical boundary, and provide more scientific decision basis for "Going Out" of domestic enterprisesNo contexto da globalização, a expansão internacionalizada da empresa do mercado nascente(EMFs) já se tornou uma frente de investigação nascente na área de investigação do comércio internacional. No processo de internacionalização, devido à desvantagem da competição congênita, EMFs não segue totalmente o caminho internacional de empresa multinacional dos países desenvolvidos. Para isto, o Luo e o Tung propôs teoria de trampolim. Eles acham que EMFs obte ativos-chave das empresas do país desenvolvido através de uma série das expansões internacionalizadas radicais para compensar e superar sua desvantagem retardatária. Sobre a proposição da teoria de trampolim, a deficiência, que o incrementalismo internacionalizado não pode bem explicar os comportamentos internacionalizados de EMFs, foi compensada. No entanto, ainda existe muitos limites na investigação atual e a teoria atual falta das investigações para o mecanismo, regra e caraterística da evolução estratégica do processo da internacionalização de EMFs. À base da teoria de trampolim, modelo LLL e o incrementalismo internacionalizado Uppsala, este texto usa análise de caminho de evento, estudo de casos múltiplos, análise de processo e outros métodos, caracterizando o cenário de dependência dupla de tenologia de EMFs e de recurso de mercado, também estabelecendo o quadro de comportamento de internacionalização com base nos dois motivos e duas forças dependetens. O resultado apresenta que: (1) Os dois comportamentos estratégicos de busca de ativos e de busca de oportunidades de EMFs mudam continuamente com o desenvolvimento das fases de empresa. Na primeira fase, não houve diferença distinta; na segunda fase, as duas buscas de ativo e de oportunidade conduzem por sua vez; na terceira fase, tem a busca de oportunidade como o principal; (2) A estratégia de busca de ativos de EMFs é promovida por força inteira da empresa, mas a estratégia de busca de oportunidade é promovida juntamente pelas forças inteira e exterior da empresa; (3) EMFs alavanca ativos e oportunidades internacionalizadas pelo link externo e balança ativos e oportunidades através de alternação de comportamento de clideração; (4) A internacionalização de EMFs é um processo de aprendizagem organizacional sob o elo de link e a liderança alternada. As contribuições principais deste texto são: (1) Descobriu a regra de evolução e o mecanismo de função no processo de internacionalização dos dois motivos estratégicos e a força dependente, ajudando a estabelecer o cenário e a lógica de tomada de decisão externos claros para a internacionalização das empresas do nosso país; (2) Revelou a característica que a EMFs alavanca ativos e oportunidades externos através de estabelecimento de link de internacionalização e a característica de liderança alterna das duas estratégia, ajudando a lidar melhor a execução da estratégia de internacionalização das empresas do nosso país; (3) Estabeleceu um modelo do processo de internacionalização com base na elo de link e liderança alterna e relevou a natureza do processo de internacionalização de EMFs do ponto de vista da dependência de recursos, explicando como o EMFs caracterizala pela China realizou o objetivo de estratégia de globalização sob a condição de desvantagem retardatário e expandiu os limites teóricos existentes de EMFs, e ofereceu os bases da decisão mais científicos às empresas domésticas para "Vai globalmente"

The evolution of systems-integration capability in latecomer contexts: the case ofIran’s thermal and hydro power generation systems

This study concerns building capabilities within the electricity sector of Iran, a developing country. It focuses on two areas of high-technology development,• hydro electricity generation plants and thermal electricity generation plants, and investigates the accumulation of local capabilities to undertake large and complex development projects in these two areas. The empirical aim of the thesis is to analyse how far the local capabilities have advanced and what can be done to enhance them. The business of engineering and developing complex electricity generation systems, such as hydro and thermal power plants, is an example of high-value high-technology capital goods industries (sometimes referred to as CoPS in the innovation studies literature). This literature suggests that systems integration is a core capability of leading suppliers in CoPS industries. Most studies of capability building at the firm level in latecomer contexts, however, have focused on mass-manufacturing firms rather than on project-based ones. The CoPS literature, on the other hand, has investigated the concept of systems integration capability within the context of developed economies. Therefore, this research aims to examine latecomer systems integration capability (LSIC) in these two CoPS areas in Iran to develop our understanding of the nature and evolution of LSIC. This research is carried out as an exploratory case study, combining some elements of latecomer theory, systems integration and capability theory to develop the analytical framework for the study. The framework is then applied to evidence gathered from two major Iranian systems integrators that lead engineering and development activities involved in the construction of power plants. Evidence is gathered on the evolution of micro-level attributes, including people, knowledge, processes and structures, underlying LSIC, along with changes in products and outcomes of systems integration activities. These categories of evidence are combined with the evidence on the internal context of the firms and their external environment to reveal their achievements in the accumulation of LSIC, and to understand the dynamics behind the evolution of LSIC. The analysis of this thesis shows how the two Iranian firms entered into the business of systems integration of power plant systems, and have gradually built higher levels of LSIC, allowing them to succeed in competitive local and overseas markets, and to diversify into local markets for other complex projects. Nevertheless, there have been imbalances, spurts of rapid capability growth, periods of falling behind in specific areas of LSIC, close connections and relationships (amounting to a co-evolution among LSIC areas), and major investments and strategies to remedy imbalances, and to sustain the firms' progress. This thesis also attempts to explain these complex variations in the evolutionary paths of LSIC. In addition to contributing to the latecomer capability literature, this research suggests some policy and business strategy implications.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A Region-based Business Ecosystem for Industrial Upgrading: Evidence from the Electronics Industry of Shenzhen

This dissertation explores the underlying mechanisms for the upgrading process of the electronics industry in Shenzhen. Industrial upgrading has been an international phenomenon since the globalisation of manufacturing in the late 1970s but to date no comprehensive framework has been proposed for the industrial upgrading in a region. In recent decades, the trend of manufacturing regionalisation and growing uncertainties associated with electronics products in the global market have driven regions that specialise in electronics manufacturing, such as the Chinese city of Shenzhen, to continuously adjust its industrial systems. Such adjustments are mainly based on the evolving business ecosystem they inhabit, which comprises region-specific resources that can be flexibly leveraged by players such as local firms and the government. To elucidate the interactive mechanisms among actors that facilitate industrial upgrading within the regional business ecosystem, this research integrates and extends the existing literature on industrial upgrading from global and local perspectives and applies a business ecosystem framework to address the main research question and sub-questions: How does a region act as a business ecosystem to facilitate the upgrading of a region- specific industry? 1. What is the evolutionary pattern of a regional resource pool? 2. How to understand the upgrading of a region-specific industry? 3. How does a regional resource pool interact with regional industrial systems to facilitate industrial upgrading? In order to answer these questions, a qualitative study on the Shenzhen-based business ecosystem with two streams of embedded cases – electronics companies that have experienced upgrading in Shenzhen and milestone events in Shenzhen’s industrial development – was conducted following an inductive approach. After detailed individual and cross-case analyses, the research revealed three main findings. Firstly, the evolution of the regional resource pool is driven by both milestone events throughout the industrial development of the region and local firms’ feedback impacts. Secondly, the regional industrial upgrading is an iterative and dynamic process and should be interpreted by adding the regional dimension. At the regional level, there co-exist established industrial systems transformation and new industrial systems emergence throughout the upgrading journey of a region-specific industry. Thirdly, the underlying mechanisms for regional industrial upgrading are enabled by the region-based business ecosystem. A total of eight interactive mechanisms between the regional resource pool and regional industrial systems – four transformation impacts from the resource pool on the industrial system and four feedback impacts from the industrial system on the resource pool – result in an iterative and dynamic co-evolution model that defines the region-based business ecosystem. Theoretically, these findings fill the current scholarly neglect of the fact that a region as a whole can function as a business ecosystem to enhance long-term regional growth through industrial upgrading. In addition to these three main theoretical findings, this PhD research project has a number of practical implications. A mapping tool can be developed for firms or regional governments to use in decision making for industrial development. In addition to the tool development, firms and local government should collaborate following an ecosystem logic to enhance resource strengthening and creation, so as to sustain the regional industrial upgrading. In summary, this dissertation contributes to industrial systems and business ecosystem literatures in its re-conceptualisation of region-based business ecosystems. By introducing the regional dimension into the research of industrial upgrading, the integrative region-based business ecosystem model enriches our understanding of the co-evolution between the industrial systems and resources in a developing region

Towards a dynamic regional innovation system : investigation into the electronics industry in the Pearl River Delta, China

[no abstract

Innovation Systems and the Revitalisation of an Old Industrial Area: the Case of the Textile Industry in Daegu, South Korea

National, regional and sectoral innovation systems are considered key concepts in economic and industrial analysis for understanding the (re)combination of existing knowledge and physical systems to produce innovation in goods and services. Therefore, the framework of innovation systems is widely analysed in both academic and policy circles given that it provides both theoretical and empirical insights. Yet, the extant literature has paid less attention to a number of important matters – 1) the centralised top-down model, 2) low-tech industry and SMEs innovation, 3) the role of intermediaries, 4) the evolutionary process of innovation systems, and 5) a lack of consideration of policy leverage, which is part and parcel of innovation (systems). Furthermore, there is a paucity of empirical applications regarding how to connect three types of innovation systems within one single research framework. To fill these gaps above, this research examines the restructuring process of an old textile region in Daegu, South Korea. Daegu’s textile industry was the subject of policy during the past developmental state period (from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s) and it has been the focus of the first government-led regional attempt at industrial upgrading in the post-developmental state (since the end of the 1990s) period. This suggests that the study of the contribution of the South Korean innovation system to industrial upgrading in Daegu requires an evolutionary approach involving in-depth longitudinal observation covering ample historical events to compensate for the typical methodological weaknesses of the static snapshots found in many innovation studies. With an evolutionary perspective of the Daegu textile industry as a case study, this research unearths the following questions: 1) how Korea’s innovation systems have contributed to the revitalisation of the old industrial region; 2) how local textile intermediaries themselves have evolved and stimulated knowledge dissemination; 3) how the local textile SMEs have transformed their businesses toward a high value-added one, and; 4) how the post-developmental state model has affected the regional upgrade, compared to the previous governance.

Organising innovation between multinational companies and innovation systems: the Brazilian ICT sector in the late 1990s and early 2000s

This thesis is concerned with the organisation of innovation in the interaction between multinational companies and host-country innovation systems. It proposes a framework for characterising the decentralised governance of innovation projects in sectors and identifying emerging organisational configurations in this specific context. The general characteristics of the project-based knowledge networks are examined in terms of (i) the shifting boundaries between subsidiaries and technological partners, (ii) the specialisation of actors in types of activities and (iii) the speed of change in the collaborations between multinational companies and technological institutes. The emerging configurations are classified in terms of (i) the knowledge and resources flows in different innovation projects and (ii) the common aims of the different groups of stakeholders. This framework is applied on the decentralised networks of innovation projects in the Brazilian ICT sector promoted by tax incentives to innovation activities (―Brazilian ICT Law‖). The empirical analysis combines the data of more than 10,000 innovation projects and in-depth case studies on the organisation of innovative activities in 11 R&D laboratories in subsidiaries of multinational companies and 11 of their main technological partners. The analysis of the project-based knowledge networks and emerging configurations is recognised as a useful tool for examining the dynamics promoted by the sectoral policy. This research provides insights on how the institutional framework such as the Brazilian ICT Law provided the space for the decentralised interaction between different organisations with very different interests. The analysis also shows that the regulation may support higher investments in R&D, but it does not necessarily enforce a project portfolio that promotes a sustainable knowledge flow between multinational companies and the sectoral innovation system. Finally, the thesis includes specific recommendations for addressing key challenges such as the organisational development of the subsidiaries, the emergence of private research institutes and the coordination of sectoral policies. Keywords: sectoral innovation systems, knowledge network, organisation of innovation, economic sociology, R&D policy, innovation projects, project-based learning, interorganisational networks

Empirical analysis of sectoral patterns of technology opportunities and technology development

研究成果の概要 (和文) : 本研究の目的は、研究開発投資と取引関係に関する統計データを用いて、技術的機会、研究開発活動と収益性の間の関係を分析することである。分析の結果、製造業全体を対象とした分析では、収益性と研究開発投資の関係は有意に負の値を示したが、産業別の分析では、いくつかの産業で有意に正であることがわかった。また、各産業の取引活動に焦点を当て、産業連関表のデータを用いたBtoB比率と呼ばれる指標を導入しBtoB比率、研究開発多角化度と収益性の関係を分析した。分析の結果、日本の製造業では、BtoB率の高い産業ほど収益性が高く、研究開発多角化度が高い産業ほど収益性が低い傾向にあることが分かった。研究成果の概要 (英文) : The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyze the relationship between technological opportunities, R & D activities, and profitability by using statistic data on R & D investment and transaction activity. As a result of the analysis, in the analysis of the entire manufacturing industry, the relationship between profitability and the R & D investment ratio showed a significantly negative value, but by industry level analysis, the study found the significantly positive in several industry. In this study, focusing on the transaction activity of each industry, the index called BtoB ratio using the data in the input-output table was introduced. This study analyzed the relationship between BtoB ratio, R & D diversification and profitability. As a result of the analysis, it was shown that in the Japanese manufacturing industry, industries with a high BtoB rate have higher profitability, and industries with a higher degree of diversification have lower profitability