Commercialization process of disruptive innovations in corporate ventures and spinoff companies: a comparison

One of the most critical challenges that large companies, small enterprises and research institutes face, when commercializing their innovations, is the transfer process at the moment of scaling up. These organizations often transfer their innovation to either existing business units or create a new business entirely. The process of transferring innovations to an existing unit is known as corporate venture, while creating a new business is called spinoff. Both processes have been studied separately, but not yet together and from different business sectors and countries. In order to understand both processes, this article compares the commercialization of disruptive innovations from these sectors: electronics, information technology, telecommunications, engineering, healthcare, biotechnology or research equipment. The article used multiple case study methodology from commercialization ¬projects carried out in large, small and medium-sized companies and research institutes based in Spain, Germany, UK and Finland. The findings showed that certain activities needed to be done at pre-transition /commercialization, transition/commercialization, and post-transition/commercialization phases to reach a successful transition. Furthermore, the study provides similarities between the corporate venture and spinoff approaches that include team formation, network development and getting the commitment from the company and stakeholders. Additionally, the article outlines divergences between the approaches which consist of innovation readiness, knowledge management or the activities of the post-transition phase. The article also provides insight for innovation scholars, commercialization practitioners, and business enterprises. Therefore, the article contributes to the commercialization of disruptive innovations.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Identifying the Challenges in Commercializing High Technology: A Case Study of Quantum Key Distribution Technology

This article examines the challenges in commercializing high technologies successfully and sustainably using quantum key distribution (QKD) technology as a case study. Quantum communication is increasingly relevant to cybersecurity and nanotechnology, which will replace current technologies and change the way we live. To understand how such high technology could be successfully commercialized, we interviewed individuals from four metrology institutions and two international companies. The result revealed that scattered and small markets, supply chain development, technology validation/certification, a lack of available or adequate infrastructure, and after-sales services are the most serious challenges facing successful commercialization of quantum communication technology. To validate these challenges, we conducted a survey of 60 experts, 49 of whom agreed that above-mentioned factors could affect the commercialization success of QKD technology. Likewise, the survey revealed that technical development, customer orientation/awareness, and government regulations could also hinder the commercialization of QKD technology.  </p

Commercialization process of disruptive innovations in corporate ventures and spinoff companies: A comparison

One of the most critical challenges that large companies, small enterprises and research institutes face, when commercializing their innovations, is the transfer process at the moment of scaling up. These organizations often transfer their innovation to either existing business units or create a new business entirely. The process of transferring innovations to an existing unit is known as corporate venture, while creating a new business is called spinoff. Both processes have been studied separately, but not yet together and from different business sectors and countries. In order to understand both processes, this article compares the commercialization of disruptive innovations from these sectors: electronics, information technology, telecommunications, engineering, healthcare, biotechnology or research equipment. The article used multiple case study methodology from commercialization ¬projects carried out in large, small and medium-sized companies and research institutes based in Spain, Germany, UK and Finland. The findings showed that certain activities needed to be done at pre-transition /commercialization, transition/commercialization, and post-transition/commercialization phases to reach a successful transition. Furthermore, the study provides similarities between the corporate venture and spinoff approaches that include team formation, network development and getting the commitment from the company and stakeholders. Additionally, the article outlines divergences between the approaches which consist of innovation readiness, knowledge management or the activities of the post-transition phase. The article also provides insight for innovation scholars, commercialization practitioners, and business enterprises. Therefore, the article contributes to the commercialization of disruptive innovations.</p

The Off-Label Loophole in the Psychopharmacologic Setting: Prescription of Antipsychotic Drugs in the Nonpsychotic Patient Population

U.S. physicians have wide discretion in treating patients with off-label medications. Many consider off-label prescription essential in our country’s health care system, and it is wholly supported by FDA and federal courts. Assumptions about physicians’ expertise, judgments, and commitments to beneficence and nonmaleficence undergird laissez-faire policies that allow and support physicians’ novel and innovate uses of FDA-approved drugs for purposes and populations not studied in original, strictly regulated clinical trials. Though sometimes beneficial, off-label prescribing, which flourishes in privatepractice psychiatry, often harms scores of psychiatric patients. Frequently, potential harms are insufficiently disclosed to patients. In the public health sector, officials have begun to identify and warn of dangers surrounding antipsychotic use in nonpsychotic foster children. Within the government-funded insurance apparatus there are built-in means for checking harmful physician practices. Such oversight mechanisms are deficient in the private insurance sector, and absent where treatment is paid for out-of-pocket. The Article proposes that private-practice psychiatrists’ collective widespread “experimental” treatment of nonpsychotic patients with antipsychotics off label resembles clinical research without regulation or meaningful accountability. Because harmful physician practices in the off-label antipsychotics space are largely unchecked by state regulation and law, action is required to protect some of our most vulnerable patients

The commercialization process of high technologies : case studies of high technologies from ICT, cleantech and life sciences industries

Commercialization of high technologies refers to a process that transforms radical and disruptive innovations into consumable products, services and solution packages. This process generates returns on research and development investments, employs highly educated people, empowers semi-skilled persons and makes business enterprises prosperous and sustainable. Hence, this study investigated the commercialization process purposely to provide in-depth knowledge of it. The study aimed to investigate how high technologies are commercialized, especially in ICT, Cleantech and the Life Sciences industries to provide a better understanding of the commercialization process. This understanding is essential due to the increase in new high technologies and rapid changes in these industries. The study employed a case study research method to achieve its goal. It used interviews, an online survey, observations and documentary for data collection, and content and thematic methods for data analysis. It used primary and secondary data that were collected between 2012 and 2017. Its participants represented stakeholders of the above-mentioned industries. The participants mostly came from Finland, but some came from other European countries. The study found that the commercialization process models are rooted in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Stage-gate, Effectuation, Bricolage and Lean Start-up theoretical frameworks. Similarly, it found that the process makes use of a mixture of linear and non-linear logic. Additionally, it found that the commercialization process starts during the pre-innovation phase and continues after the innovation’s marketing phase, and that commercialization activities must be performed in parallel (simultaneously). Most interestingly, the study revealed that digitalization has changes on the commercialization process. Based on the findings, the study proposed a new model for commercializing high technologies in the above-mentioned industries; a framework termed the “Integrative Commercialization Process” (ICP). The model was built on theories, theoretical frameworks and models of the innovation process, New Product Development (NPD), Entrepreneurship, Spinoff, Transfer of Technology (TOT) and Marketing. Similarly, the model was built on the context of ICT, Cleantech and the Life Sciences. Hence, the study offered insights into the theoretical frameworks of the innovation, the NPD, Spinoff and marketing fields. Furthermore, the study provided practical insight for the stakeholders of the aforementioned industries, especially potential entrepreneurs (e.g., scientists and engineers), technology entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship educators, commercialization practitioners, universities and research institutes and companies. Therefore, this study makes contributions to the theory and practice of commercialization.Korkean teknologian kaupallistamisella viitataan prosessiin, jossa radikaalit ja disruptiiviset innovaatiot kehittyvät kulutettaviksi tuotteiksi, palveluiksi tai ratkaisuiksi. Kaupallistaminen tuottaa vastinetta tehdyille investoinneille, työllistää koulutettuja ihmisiä sekä luo menestyvää ja kestävää liiketoimintaa. Tässä väitöskirjassa on tutkittu kaupallistamisprosessia ja tuotettu syvällisempää uutta tietoa siitä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää millä tavoin korkean teknologian kaupallistaminen tapahtuu, erityisesti ICT-, Life Sciences-, sekä Cleantech – aloilla sekä tuottaa parempaa ymmärrystä kaupallistamisprosessista näillä aloilla. Näillä teknologianaloilla kasvu on nopeaa ja isoja muutoksia tapahtuu jatkuvasti. Korkean teknologian kasvavasta merkityksestä ja nopeista muutoksista johtuen näiden alojen kaupallistamisprosessin ymmärtäminen on erittäin tärkeää. Tutkimus on toteutettu tapaustutkimuksena. Tutkimusaineistoa on kerätty haastatteluin sekä kyselytutkimuksen, dokumenttiaineiston ja havainnoinnin keinoin. Tutkimusaineisto on analysoitu sisältöanalyysin sekä temaattisen analyysin avulla. Primäärinen ja sekundäärinen tutkimusaineisto on kerätty ajanjaksolla 2012-2017. Tutkimukseen informantit ovat yllämainittujen alojen edustajia. Suurin osa informanteista oli Suomesta, mutta joitakin osallistujia oli myös muista Euroopan maista. Tehdyn tutkimuksen perusteella kaupallistamisen prosessi pohjautuu Technology Acceptance-malliin (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) -teoriaan, sekä Stage-gate-, Effectuation-, Bricolage-, ja Lean Start-up -viitekehyksiin. Samoin tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että prosessi on yhdistelmä lineaarista ja epälineaarista logiikkaa. Lisäksi havaittiin, että kaupallistamisprosessi alkaa jo ennen innovaatiovaihetta, jatkuu vielä innovaation markkinointivaiheen jälkeen sekä edellyttää eri kaupallistamisaktiviteettien samanaikaista toteuttamista. Mielenkiintoista on, että digitalisaatio muuttaa kaupallistamisprosessia. Tutkimustuloksiin perustuen, tutkimus esittää uuden mallin korkean teknologian kaupallistamiseksi edellä mainituilla toimialoilla: ”Integrative Commercialization Process” (ICP). Tämä malli perustuu teorioihin, teoreettisiin viitekehyksiin sekä innovaatioprosessin malleihin: uuden tuotteen kehittämisprosessi (New Product Development, NPD), Yrittäjyys (Entrepreneurship), Spinoff-prosessi, teknologiansiirto (Transfer of Technology, TOT) ja markkinointi (Marketing) Malli on rakennettu ICT-, Cleantech- sekä Life Science-alan konteksteissa ja se tarjoaa uusia näkökulmia innovaatioiden teoreettisiin viitekehyksiin, uuden tuotteen kehittämisprosessiin, spinoff-toimintaan sekä markkinointiin. Lisäksi tutkimus tarjoaa käytännön tietoa yllämainittujen alojen sidosryhmille, erityisesti potentiaalisille yrittäjille (esimerkiksi tutkijat ja insinöörit), teknologiayrittäjille, yrittäjyyden kouluttajille, kaupallistamisen asiantuntijoille, yliopistoille, tutkimuslaitoksille ja yrityksille. Tämä tutkimus tuottaa kontribuutiota niin kaupallistamisen tieteelliseen keskusteluun kuin käytäntöön

A RESEARCH IMPACT FRAMEWORK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

In general, models of operation and funding of universities has undergone intense changes over the last decade, caused by the demand for a new organizational mission, which includes the production of socio-economic impact. This transformation has been intensified by the adoption of a research impact-based agenda, which has been operationalized in different ways around the globe. Despite the raising importance attributed to the “societal impact” that should result from academic research activities, the definition of this concept, as well as the assessment approaches and models to assess it, are subject to discussion and shrouded in controversy among academics, university managers and policymakers. Considering this situation and the challenges of the impact-based research agenda, this study proposed the development of a conceptual framework for research impact which can address some of the current problems and then contribute to the promotion of research impact produced by higher education and research institutions. Given this objective, a first phase of research was conducted which allowed to deepen the existing knowledge about the implementation challenges of the impact-based agenda, as well as, to unveil a common set of beliefs and values shared by the academic community, which regardless of the research context, may come into tension with policies and other instruments of impact promotion. The obtained results also validated the need and interest in developing a framework for impact focused on the analysis of the academic research process. Thus, in a second phase of the investigation, the conditions (resources) that could have a positive effect on the production of different types of impacts, referred to as impact conditions, were analyzed. The eight categories of impact conditions here obtained, which were dived into three different categories, served as the basis for the development of a process-based conceptual framework for the impact of academic research.This framework, together with the impact assessment tool here proposed can be used by management teams of higher education institutions and research organizations to assess the current performance of the organization in what respects to research impact, as well as, to support the definitions an implementation of strategies that can take the organization towards and increased production of research impact. The results obtained in this study may also produce effects on research impact assessment policies and procedures, as well as, contribute to a better involvement of the academic community in these topics and therefore increase the efficacy and efficiency of the impact produced by the results obtained in the academic research activities

Diesel has to go:Making the case for gas and biogas engines

This study explores the commercialization process of small to medium enterprises (SME’s), using the case study method to delve into the unique experiences of one firm who are currently in the process of commercialising their innovative low emission engine solutions. The study reviews the existing literature, exploring the challenges associated with commercialization, focusing on the specific challenges of commercialising high technologies into the market, and how the firm can aim to address the market’s needs and preferences. The gaps in the literature include a lack of knowledge on how SME’s can use their network during the commercialization process. The principal theories used to underpin this study include Teece’s Technological Commercialization Theory (Teece, Pisano , & Shuen, 1997), and the Network Theory (Ford & Mouzas, 2010). The SME is then situated within the context of industry, and the markets of interest are outlined, specifically the small power generation markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, India, and the United Kingdom. The study uses semi-structured interviews to gain qualitative data on the experiences of those in industry and within the SME. Through thematic analysis, the data was coded, and themes emerged. The analysis revealed a strong market need from the industry for low emission solutions to reduce carbon emissions, and a willingness to adopt high technologies, whilst also outlining the potential roadblocks of new innovations entering the market. The analysis from the participants within the SME indicate strong expertise in technological capabilities to meet the market need, whilst the challenges facing the SME surrounded financial resources and strategic direction. The study concludes by addressing the gaps in the literature through discussion of how the SME can navigate its associated challenges and access the market through its network