Horses as Sources of Proprietary Information: Commercialization, Conservation, and Compensation Pursuant to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Horses indigenous to East and Southeast (E/SE) Asia, including native, landrace, feral, and wild populations, embody valuable genetic diversity. Conservation efforts for animals have largely been driven by humane altruism, with little consideration for the information value of genomes. Yet, if horses are viewed as archives of information as well as objects of affection, their conservation shifts to a market-based paradigm. Horse genetic resources (GR) likely contain significant value to the lucrative global horse industry, including veterinary applications such as diagnostics, therapeutics, genetic markers, gene therapies, and cloning technologies. As biotechnology becomes increasingly sophisticated, mining of horse GR will accelerate, thus facilitating identification, inventorying, bioprospecting, and commercialization of genetic information. Yet, establishing a value chain that balances equitable compensation for commercial applications while promoting conservation of horse populations remains a challenge. Recommendations presented here include establishing regional and national human resource and institutional capacity (competent national authorities), that catalog eco-geographical inventories of horse GR; monitor, manage, market and direct equitable value chains from horse to genetic information to commercial products; and ensure revenue flow back to support conservation. This system will foster market incentives to build capacity for sustainable conservation of the diverse horse populations of E/SE Asia

Value creation in mobile banking

The convergence of the Internet and mobile networks creates new opportunities and applications. Treating mobile business as simply an extension to the traditional web could result in missing out unique differentiated qualities for new value-added possibilities. Mobile Banking is considered to be one of the most value-added and important mobile service available. The current research examined technological changes in mobile networks and innovative attributes of Mobile Internet. It has advanced the theoretical framework of innovation in service to develop a customer centric analysis of mBanking value proposition. The article goes on to discuss critical factors in the diffusion of mBanking and explores reasons of failure and further prospects of success.Mobile Banking

Coming From Good Stock: Career Histories and New Venture Formation

We examine how the social structure of existing organizations influences entrepreneurship and suggest that resources accrue to entrepreneurs based on the structural position of their prior employers. We argue that information advantages allow individuals from entrepreneurially prominent prior firms to identify new opportunities. Entrepreneurial prominence also reduces the perceived uncertainty of a new venture. Using a sample of Silicon Valley start-ups, we demonstrate that entrepreneurial prominence is associated with initial strategy and the probability of attracting external financing. New ventures with high prominence are more likely to be innovators; furthermore, innovators with high prominence are more likely to obtain financing

Contacts and contracts: Cross-level network dynamics in the development of an aircraft material

In this paper, we investigate how interorganizational networks and interpersonal networks interact over time. We present a retrospective longitudinal case study of the network system that developed a novel aircraft material and analyze changeepisodes from a structurationist perspective. We identify five types of episodes in which interpersonal and interorganizational networks interact (persistence, prospecting, consolidation, reconfiguration, and dissolution) and analyze conditionsfor these episodes and sequences among them. Our findings advance a cross-level perspective on embeddedness and show how individuals may draw on relational and structural embeddedness as distributed resources. The multiple levels of embeddedness impact network dynamics by introducing converging and diverging dialectics, thereby limiting path dependence and proactive network orchestration

Vaccine technology transfer in a global health crisis: actors, capabilities, and institutions

The COVID-19 pandemic, which featured international pharmaceutical firms seeking to build global manufacturing networks to scale-up the supply of vaccines, has generated heightened interest in understanding the role of firm-to-firm technology transfer. While considerable attention has been given to tracking the extent of international vaccine technology transfer, we know little about how partnerships were established and work in practice. Understanding the challenges that such projects face, and how such challenges may be overcome, is crucially important. This paper provides an account of the partnership between the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the vaccine developer that has engaged in the most technology transfer and built the widest global manufacturing network, and Bio-Manguinhos, a public laboratory linked to Brazil’s Ministry of Health. The case study demonstrates the importance of capabilities and regulatory flexibility. Moreover, the analysis highlights the role of political factors that affect the process of technology transfer, and innovation more broadly. Because of the risks involved and the need to quickly mobilize existing capabilities and build new ones, as well as the imperatives of coordinating among manufacturing and regulatory processes and allocating resources to make such arrangements feasible, technology transfer projects need to be enabled politically. Looking forward, the case study has implications for initiatives to expand technology transfer for broadened production of vaccines in the Global South

IP for Design Innovation and Emerging Technology

The book has contributions from a range of academics and professionals on managing IP including the support team at the European Patent Office. This chapter presents insights into creative and emerging technology IP by Prof. Mike Waller who leads the Prospect and Innovation Studio at Goldsmiths, working with startups, organisations and governments

An Economic Model for Bioprospecting Contracts

This paper explores the use of a micro-economic model to analyse the provisions and parties of bioprospecting contracts. It focuses on the pharmaceutical industry as the representative biodiversity buyer, presenting an original theoretical framework that explains the main contract characteristics or stylised facts. Against this background, it considers the main contractors involved in these private contracts, i.e. biodiversity sellers and biodiversity buyers, analysing both the magnitude and distribution of the respective payoffs. Particular attention is devoted to the different, mixed impacts of bioprospecting contracts and patenting on social welfare. The positive welfare impacts delivered by bioprospecting contracts are associated with the potential discovery of a new drug product, i.e. productivity gains, non-monetary benefit-sharing or transfers and royalty revenues. The negative welfare impact results from the legal creation of a monopoly and the related well-known effect on the consumer surplus. Finally, the potential redistribution effects are limited, and a potential enforcement of this objective may jeopardise the desirability of the contracts since this action would lead to a significant increase in the transaction costs.Bioprospecting Contract, Genetic Resource, Biodiversity Buyer, Biodiversity Seller, Patenting, Welfare Analysis, Benefit Sharing

Service innovation in manufacturing firms : evidence from Spain.

The ways in which manufacturing firms come to offer services to customers – servitisation or servicisation – are attracting considerable attention. This paper examines an innovation survey of Spanish firms in order to investigate one aspect of this phenomenon: the introduction of new or improved services by manufacturers. Specifically, the paper analyses the determinants of service innovations in manufacturers and determines whether they differ from those of product or process innovations in these same firms. The study finds that almost 20 percent of the firms in the sample have introduced such services in the recent past and that important differences exist between service and product (goods) innovations, with service innovations being particularly related to human resource development and closer links to customers. This suggests that service innovation by manufacturers has much in common with the innovation patterns detected in service sector firms. Intriguing differences across manufacturing sectors are also noted, with the lowest- and highest-tech sectors reporting more service innovations than the medium-tech sectorsInnovation; Manufacturing; Service; Servitisation;

Internationalization of a SME: Multivision, Lda

With the Portuguese IT consultancy market entering in a phase of saturation as well as the fierce competition among the companies on the market, internationalization is a key economic indicator (and success factor) to achieve and maintain a healthy market share and growth potential. This thesis objective is to analyze the internationalization phenomenon from a strategic point of view, while presenting the project of a business plan to internationalize the IT consultancy company "Multivision, Lda". Fundamentally, this project is focused on finding the best-fit strategy to internationalize business including the locations / countries most appropriate to be focused on from the company´s portfolio. The main dynamics of an internationalization process are examined - from a theoretical point of view first and then adapting this framework to the company's environment. A qualitative research was performed, mainly consisting of information provided by the Financial Manager of the company and information provided by the internationalization project PT2020. In order to analyze the internationalization of a SME, the understanding of the bestfitted criteria for the identification of target markets, their market-entry barriers as well as the company´s operational strategy are key factors. One believes that studying this theme, the understanding of the criteria needed to make the best choice of target markets, entry mode decisions and the operational strategy is implied. Through the development of the internationalization project of "Multivision, Lda", the author realized that this process is an always more relevant technique in the world of Small and Medium Enterprises, in order for companies to develop their business or even to be able to remain in the market.Com o mercado de consultoria de IT principiando a ficar saturado e com muitos concorrentes, a internacionalização é um indicador económico fundamental para garantir um lugar na consultoria e ter a oportunidade de crescimento. A presente tese tem como objetivo analisar o fenómeno da internacionalização do ponto de vista estratégico, apresentando o projeto de um plano de negócios para internacionalizar a empresa de consultoria de IT "Multivision, lda". Fundamentalmente, este projeto está focado em encontrar a melhor estratégia para internacionalizar e em quais países o mercado aceitaria melhor a presença da empresa. Será analisada a principal dinâmica de um processo de internacionalização do ponto de vista teórico, adaptando-a a um cenário real. Foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa e parcialmente quantitativa, consistindo principalmente em informações fornecidas pela Gestora Financeira da empresa e providenciadas ao projeto de internacionalização PT2020. No estudo deste tema, a compreensão dos critérios necessários para fazer a melhor escolha de mercados-alvo, as decisões de modo de entrada e a estratégia operacional estão implícitas. Através do desenvolvimento do projeto de internacionalização da "Multivision, lda", percebe-se que este processo é uma técnica gradual no mundo das Pequenas e Médias Empresas, para que as estas desenvolvam os seus negócios ou até mesmo possam manter um lugar no mercado e desenvolver a sua marca