EU accession and Poland's external trade policy

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Related and unrelated industry variety and the internationalization of start-ups

We study the relationship between industry variety in a start-up's home location and the start-up's internationalization in terms of both the likelihood of and persistence in exporting. Using a unique sample of Swedish start-ups, we find that related industry variety is positively associated with exporting likelihood and persistence, whereas unrelated industry variety is positively associated with exporting likelihood and persistence when the start-ups’ employees possess technological knowledge. We also find that employees’ international experience strengthens the positive relationship between related industry variety and start-ups’ export persistence. We provide auxiliary evidence of the proposed mechanisms through which related and unrelated industry variety affects start-ups’ internationalization—that is, through their effects on start-ups’ ability to launch novel products in foreign markets. The findings of our study provide policymakers preliminary evidence on th

Related and unrelated industry variety and the internationalization of start-ups

We study the relationship between industry variety in a start-up's home location and the start-up's internationalization in terms of both the likelihood of and persistence in exporting. Using a unique sample of Swedish start-ups, we find that related industry variety is positively associated with exporting likelihood and persistence, whereas unrelated industry variety is positively associated with exporting likelihood and persistence when the start-ups’ employees possess technological knowledge. We also find that employees’ international experience strengthens the positive relationship between related industry variety and start-ups’ export persistence. We provide auxiliary evidence of the proposed mechanisms through which related and unrelated industry variety affects start-ups

Assessing teachers’ beliefs to facilitate the transition to a new chemistry curriculum: what do the teachers want?

In this article, we describe the results of a study of chemistry high school teachers’ beliefs (N = 7) of the chemistry curriculum and their roles, their beliefs on the teacher as developer of materials, and their beliefs about professional development. Teachers’ beliefs influence the implementation of a curriculum. We view the use of a new curriculum as a learning process, which should start at teachers’ prior knowledge and beliefs. The results reveal that it is possible to develop a new curriculum in which teachers’ beliefs are taken as a starting point. Promising approaches to prepare teachers for a new curriculum is to let them (co)develop and use curriculum materials: It creates ownership, and strengthens and develops teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)

Entrepreneurial Learning in Project Ventures: Implications of Prior Venture Experience for Error Avoidance, Innovation, and Project Performance

This dissertation builds on the organizational learning literature to develop and test a model of entrepreneurial learning in an increasingly prevalent organizational context – project ventures. Complementing prior research on project ventures, the focus is on the individual in charge of project venture execution. In extension of prior organizational learning research, this study examines the cross-level relationships between sub-dimensions of the entrepreneur’s prior venture experience and project-level learning outcomes. Specifically, this study investigates how the entrepreneur’s depth and breadth of experience affect three project-level outcomes: errors in project execution, novelty of project outcomes, and financial project performance. Testing the theory-based conjectures of this dissertation in a sample drawn from projects executed in the U.S. motion picture industry between 2000 and 2005 provides support for a model of learning across project ventures that accounts for sub-dimensions of prior venture experience and their differential effect on project-level outcomes. Depth of experience aids the avoidance of execution errors while breadth of experience increases the novelty of project outcomes. There is no conclusive support for a relationship of either depth or breadth of experience with the financial performance of project ventures. The implications of the findings for research on organizational learning and entrepreneurial learning are discussed and opportunities for future research are outlined. This dissertation contributes to recent research that has successfully applied organizational learning theory to better understand entrepreneurial behavior in project-venture settings

Creating New Ventures: A review and research agenda

Creating new ventures is one of the most central topics to entrepreneurship and is a critical step from which many theories of management, organizational behavior, and strategic management build. Therefore, this review and proposed research agenda is not only relevant to entrepreneurship scholars but also other management scholars who wish to challenge some of the implicit assumptions of their current streams of research and extend the boundaries of their current theories to earlier in the organization’s life. Given that the last systematic review of the topic was published 16 years ago, and that the topic has evolved rapidly over this time, an overview and research outlook are long overdue. From our review, we inductively generated ten sub-topics: (1) Lead founder, (2) Founding team, (3) Social relationships, (4) Cognitions, (5) Emergent organizing, (6) New venture strategy, (7) Organizational emergence, (8) New venture legitimacy, (9) Founder exit, and (10) Entrepreneurial environment. These sub-topics are then organized into three major stages of the entrepreneurial process—co-creating, organizing, and performing. Together, the framework provides a cohesive story of the past and a road map for future research on creating new ventures, focusing on the links connecting these sub-topics

Tone from the Top in Risk Management: A Complementarity Perspective on How Control Systems Influence Risk Awareness

Prompted by the weaknesses of standardized risk management approaches in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, scholars, regulators, and practitioners alike emphasize the importance of creating a risk-aware culture in organizations. Recent insights highlight the special role of tone from the top as crucial driver of risk awareness. In this study, we take a systems-perspective on control system design to investigate the role of tone from the top in creating risk awareness. In particular, we argue that both interactive and diagnostic use of budgets and performance measures interact with tone from the top in managing risk awareness. Our results show that interactive control strengthens the effect of tone from the top on risk awareness, while tone from the top and diagnostic control are, on average, not interrelated with regard to creating risk awareness. To shed light on the boundary conditions of the proposed interdependencies, we further investigate whether the predicted interdependencies are sensitive to the level of perceived environmental uncertainty. We find that the effect of tone from the top and interactive control becomes significantly stronger in a situation of high perceived environmental uncertainty. Most interestingly, tone from the top and diagnostic control are complements with regard to risk awareness in settings of low perceived environmental uncertainty and substitutes at high levels of perceived environmental uncertainty.Series: Department of Strategy and Innovation Working Paper Serie

Unlocking the value of real options: how firm-specific learning conditions affect R&D investments under uncertainty

Research Summary Why do some firms increase R&D investments in the face of uncertainty, while others do not? Contrary to common wisdom, this study posits that uncertainty prompts firms to invest in R&D. The value to invest under uncertainty is, however, bounded by a firm's learning conditions (i.e., human capital, relatedness of innovation activities, and industry maturity). An empirical test on a cross‐industry panel of 551 business divisions of manufacturing firms reveals how organization‐environment interactions determine the firm‐specific value to invest in learning prior to full‐scale commercialization. The insights help to bridge real options theory and the learning literature. Managerial Summary Uncertainty about the market environment makes investment decisions in R&D and the commercialization of new products a challenge: should firms “wait and see” until uncertainty resolves to avoid the risk of betting on the wrong product or commit further resources regardless? Our analysis suggests that manufacturing firms often take a mixed approach (“act and see”). While deferring investments in the commercialization of new products, they undertake further R&D to inform decision making by insights that would otherwise be unavailable. However, we find that the benefit of such practice depends on the learning conditions of the individual firm. What is risky for firms with disadvantages in human capital and technology development is value enhancing for firms with good foundations for learning through R&D

Conceptualising design knowledge and its recontextualisation in the studiowork component of a design foundation curriculum

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Universities of Technology have traditionally prepared students for the world of work and their close ties with industry directly impact on vocational curriculum, which has to impart subject knowledge and specialized knowledge valued by industry, whilst simultaneously encouraging the acquisition of vocational identity. This study of a Design Foundation Course’s curriculum is located at a University of Technology which is currently undergoing a process of re-curriculation, which has initiated a process of examining subject knowledge and its structuring in various course’s curricula. In the light of these developments, an examination of the nature of design knowledge and the role of the foundation curriculum in the transfer of core disciplinary knowledge to underprepared students appeared both timely and necessary