A typology of technology market intermediaries

Technology Market Intermediaries (TMI) are currently emerging on the markets for technologies attempting to realize business opportunities and facilitate the technology and IP transactions supporting firms and other markets actors (e.g. universities). They aim to support open innovation, respectively facilitate more economically technology and particularly IP transactions. However, our understanding of TMIs and their roles needs to be considered incomplete. In this paper I provide evidence on the growing number of TMIs and derived a conceptual basis for a further understanding of TMIs. The inherent difficulties of intellectual property monetization present a challenge for technology based enterprises and business opportunities for IP firms. Following a literature review, I develop a typology for TMIs. Having carried out a review of the literature I compiled a mix of primary and secondary data on about 70 TMIs. Applying the 'nine business model building blocks' from Osterwalder (2004) I identify 12 different TMI types which I then consolidate into six TMI archetypes using the framework for 'business models archetypes' of Herman and Malone (2003). --typology,type,Technology Market Intermediaries

Strengthening Agricultural Innovation Capacity: Are Innovation Brokers the Answer?

This paper examines the role of innovation brokers in stimulating innovation system interaction and innovation capacity building, and illustrates this by taking the case of Dutch agriculture as an example. Subsequently, it reflects upon the potential role of innovation brokers in developing countries' agriculture. It concludes that innovation brokerage roles are likely to become relevant in emerging economies and that public or donor investment in innovation brokerage may be needed to overcome inherent tensions regarding the neutrality and funding of such players in the innovation system. The Dutch experience suggests that innovation brokers need to be contextually embedded, and are unlikely to become effective through a centrally-imposed design. Hence, we conclude that stimulating their emergence requires a policy that supports institutional learning and experimentation. In the evaluation of such experiments, it is important to note that innovation brokers tend to play intangible roles that are not easily captured through conventional indicators.Agriculture, Developing Countries, The Netherlands, Innovation Broker, Neutrality, Institutional Learning, Context-Specific, Innovation Systems, Capacity Strengthening, Agricultural Extension

Institutional Change and Firm Adaptation

We develop a typology of organizational forms found in Southeast Asia that contains four major archetypes, Colonial Business Groups, Family Business Groups, Government Linked Enterprises, and New Managers. We explain how the institutional environment prevailing at their founding profoundly influence the strategies and capabilities of each form. Consequently, strategic repertoires and competencies that are imperfectly aligned with environmental conditions largely delimit the capacity for organizational adaptation in the face of environmental change. We discuss the consequences of such a pattern of path dependence for each organizational form as well as the social and economic systems in which they are embedded.family business groups;Southeast Asia;colonial business groups;institutional change;organizational adaptation

Managing factoring in banking groups

On the market for factoring services independent suppliers coexhist with companies affiliated with banking groups. The last ones can be oriented in their decision processes by the policies of their parent company, usually a bank. They could also benefit from synergies among the different units of the group. The main benefits are linked to cost reduction, better skill-based resources allocation and a higher amount of financial coverage. If such interdependencies are found and developed, factors belonging to banking groups could attain a competitive advantage towards independent intermediaries. To assess the impact of the group structure we have to evaluate the degree of substitutability between factoring and other financial services supplied by the group, the synergy effects that could arise in each step of the production and delivery processes and eventually organizational challenges faced by the group. In our analysis we find evidence of complementarity among factoring and other financial products, we consider the possibile sinergies in some steps of the production process and we propose a methodology to assess the level of group cohesion and the kind of control exercised by the parent company.factoring; group organizations; institutional models

Competitive Advantage and Internationalization of Italian Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturing Firms

The paper aims at exploring the factors needed by small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises to obtain a successful positioning in the international market and at identifying what there is at the root of their competitive advantage. Using a sample of 519 small and medium sized firms, with 20 to 250 employees, operating in five Italian regions, the empirical evidence reveals that the competitive advantage of Italian small enterprises is based upon a combination of elements such as price, differentiation and high technical standards of the product. According to this study, to be competitive in respect of price remains however the imperative of Italian SMEs’ behaviour in international markets.Competitive Advantage, Internationalization, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Manufacturing Firms

Research Mediation in Education: A Typology of Research Brokering Organizations That Exist Across Canada

This paper explores the increasingly prominent role of research brokering organizations (RBOs) in strengthening connections between education research, policy and practice across Canada. This paper is organized in three sections. First, it provides a literature review of research mediation– exploring terminology, models and empirical work (albeit sparse) across health, business, education sectors. The second section provides three conceptual contributions to the field: RBOs’ roles in knowledge mobilization occurring in the white space of broader public service systems, a typology of Canadian RBOs that exist in education using four broad categories: governmental, not-for-profit, for-profit and membership RBOs, and a knowledge brokering framework along seven dimensions: mission, resources, staff roles, political affiliation, autonomy, message and linkages. The third section provides empirical data about the frequency and types of RBOs that exist across Canada.   Cet article explore le rôle de plus en plus important que jouent les organismes de médiation de la recherche dans la consolidation des liens entre les politiques et la pratique en matière de recherche en éducation partout au Canada. L’article se divise en trois sections. D’abord, on y présente une revue de la littérature portant sur la médiation de la recherche et évoquant la terminologie, les modèles et le travail empirique (quoique limités) qui touchent les secteurs de la santé, des affaires et de l’éducation. La deuxième section contribue trois concepts au domaine : les rôles que jouent les organismes de médiation de la recherche dans la mobilisation des connaissances dans les « espaces vides » de la fonction publique en général; une typologie des organismes canadiens de médiation de la recherche en éducation selon quatre grandes catégories (gouvernemental, sans but lucratif, à but lucratif et composé de membres) et un cadre portant sur la médiation de la recherche et axé sur sept dimensions (mission, ressources, rôles du personnel, affiliation politique, autonomie, messages et liens). La troisième section offre des données empiriques sur la fréquence et les types d’organismes de médiation de la recherche qui existent au Canada

Innovation intermediaries: What does it take to survive over time?

Innovation intermediaries are recognised as crucial actors that can facilitate the innovation process, support eco-innovation and contribute to sustainable entrepreneurship. However, little is known about the temporal dimension of innovation intermediaries and how they change over time to survive, which is crucial if intermediaries are to contribute to long term sustainability-oriented transformations. An in-depth case study design with a comparative approach was chosen to examine four innovation intermediaries at different development stages in the related fields of CO2 utilisation and Carbon Capture Storage technology in Europe, the USA, and Australia. This study sheds light on the survival of innovation intermediaries over time: Firstly, by describing the dynamics in an intermediary's (a) characteristics, (b) scope, (c) objectives, and (d) roles and activities. Secondly, by identifying at least four interrelated factors influencing an intermediary's survival: (i) neutrality, (ii) technological context, (iii) shared consensus, and (iv) internal value creation. Thus, this article contributes to the literature by highlighting the complexity and tensions in the survival of intermediaries through an analysis of both internal and contextual factors, as opposed to previous literature which has mainly focused on how intermediaries change their roles and activities over time to survive.EIT, Climate-KIC, EnCO2r