The role of patent expiration in acquisition decision and target selection in the pharmaceutical industry

This paper addresses the calls for greater research on the antecedents of technological acquisitions by exploring a mechanism that drives both acquisition decision and target selection. Drawing from the RBV, this paper presents patent expiration as a driver behind pharmaceutical firms’ acquisition decisions and target selection. This paper argues that patent expiration constitutes a disruption to pharmaceutical firms’ pipelines and a threat to revenue and profit streams and that acquisitions represent a possible short‐term solution for firms to replenish their patent portfolios and to ensure a continuous flow of revenues. Using a sample of US pharmaceutical firms, this paper shows that pharmaceutical firms engage in acquisitions when they face large amounts of patent expiration and when they are unable to internally replenish their patent portfolios. The results also show that acquiring firms have a preference for targets with resources similar to their existing portfolio of patents, which is explained by firms’ desire to minimize post‐integration problems and possible disruptions derived from the difficulties in assimilation and commercial exploitation of distant knowledge. This is in contrast with previous studies indicating that acquiring firms benefit from knowledge bases that are more distant

On the Estimation of True State Dependence in the Persistence of Innovation

This paper explores the persistence often found in firms’ innovation and advances current research by investigating its actual nature. Previous studies have aimed at disentangling true state dependence from spurious state dependence by using a random effects (RE) dynamic panel probit approach, thereby imposing strong conditions on the underlying structure of the unobserved heterogeneity. Building on recent advances in the econometric literature, which allows for true fixed effects estimation of dynamic nonlinear panel data models, we demonstrate that relaxing the assumptions on the unobserved heterogeneity can have a considerable effect on the estimates of true state dependence. While we confirm the existence of a strong persistence of innovation in firms, we however find that true state dependence only explains about half of the persistent behaviour displayed by firms; this is in contrast to the popular RE methodology that attributes 70% to 100% of persistence to true state dependence. Our results suggest that policy programs aimed at encouraging initial innovations alone are useful but may not possess a long-term stimulating effect on innovation activity

Mapping the entrepreneurial university literature: a text mining approach

Since the introduction of the concept of entrepreneurial university in 1980s, the number of studies has dramatically increased, in particular since 2015. This had made the literature on the entrepreneurial university complex, fragmented and difficult to navigate. This paper provides a comprehensive review of all topics covered in the body of literature on the entrepreneurial university and identifies the most salient topics and papers within this literature, making use of text-mining techniques. Our paper employs topic modelling that reveals the underlying semantic structure of texts to identify the different underlying. Our study systematically analyses 1,110 papers over the period 1983–2020 using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm. Our analysis shows that the entrepreneurial university is fragmented around different topics that are very diverse. We find a total of 20 differentiated topics. Our study suggests that topics related to the overarching theme of academic entrepreneurship, in particular to commercialisation of research and the triple helix model are very popular within the entrepreneurial university literature. Finally, our analysis reveals that case-study type of research is losing momentum, giving path to nascent topics of research in the areas of entrepreneurial capability and university-industry alliances, which are becoming very popular within the entrepreneurial university literature

Cybersecurity capabilities and cyber-attacks as drivers of investment in cybersecurity systems: A UK survey for 2018 and 2019

Our study explores how cyber-capabilities and cyber-attacks drive investment in cybersecurity systems. We assume that cybersecurity investment is a strategic decision in the organizations. To analyze this research question, we make use of the Cyber Security Breaches Survey data, with a sample consisting of 4,163 UK organizations in the periods 2018 to 2019, and employ machine learning techniques (ANN and K-mean cluster). The study extends the current literature on cybersecurity systems and improves our understanding of it in several ways. First, it provides evidence for how the cybersecurity systems are developed in organizations. Second, regarding what factors affect investment in cybersecurity systems, it shows that organizations invest in cybersecurity based on their cybersecurity capabilities and the experienced cyber-attacks. Third, from a managerial point of view, the paper contributes to understanding cybersecurity within the management of the organization

Institutional theory and circular economy business models: The case of the European Union and the role of consumption policies

The circular economy (CE) has been gaining traction in recent years as it promises a change for good, in terms of environmental, social, and economic benefits. The major changes required to implement circular economy business models (CEBMs), can prove to be especially difficult for organisations. This study provides a holistic analysis of the effect of CE institutional policies on the development of CEBMs in organisations, by exploring not only production-oriented policies, which have been the focus of previous research, but also consumption policies. Consumption policies, in the form of regulatory and information policies, are oriented towards consumers and have the potential to affect the demand for CE products, which in turn affects the development of CEBMs in organisations. The paper is framed within the institutional theory and the context of the European Union. Our results reveal that consumption policies have a positive, albeit diminishing, effect on the CEBMs. Our paper finds that regulation is the most impactful policy, having a larger impact than production policies. Our results highlight the important role of institutional policies in fostering consumers’ demand for CE products and of consumption policies as tools to be employed by governments in fostering CEBMs and achieving sustainability

Digitalisation dynamics in SMEs: an approach from systems dynamics and Artificial intelligence

This paper addresses the study of digitalisation dynamics in SMEs. Improving on existing research and its methodological limitations, we provide an understanding of the digital transformation in SMEs by approaching the research from a non-linear and complex perspective. We empirically test our hypotheses using the Eurostat Flash Eurobarometer No. 486 data set, with a final sample of 16,365 SMEs. Our first contribution shows that an adequate understanding of digital transformation not only implies the identification of drivers of digitalisation but also a grasp of how these drivers act, highlighting the differential effect that internal capabilities and external support of the company in interaction have on digital transformation. Moreover, the results show that the effect of interactions between variables is transferred to the output variable in a non-linear process, which may contain an optimum produced by a differential combination of input variables. Second, the paper extends the research methodology, emphasising the importance of combining classic regression analysis with machine-learning techniques. Thus, using a systemic approach, we conclude that the combination of the explanatory power of regression models and machine learning allows us to quantify and explain how variables act, solving complex and non-linear problems

The role of NPOs and international actors in the national innovation system: A network-based approach

This paper conducts an explorative analysis of the UK's nanotechnology research collaboration network to understand the contributions of the different institutions in the development and generation of knowledge. Framed in the National Innovation System (NIS) and the Triple Helix (TH) model literature, this paper makes use of social network analysis (SNA) tools to identify the role and involvement of different institutional actors in the interactions and collaborations within the nanotechnology network. Building on the traditional university–industry–government three-helix interaction model, our paper includes two extra dimensions in the model to account for the increase in international collaboration and the increasingly important role of non-profit organizations (NPOs) in knowledge generation. In this way, our paper responds to recent calls to adapt the traditional NIS models to reflect the new realities of scientific collaboration

Digitalization and Cybersecurity in SMEs: A Bibliometric Analysis

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of digitalization and cybersecurity in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), using the R tool Bibliometrix, with a total of 417 papers. First, our paper contributes to academia by showing that research on this topic is grouped into four clusters corresponding to four research lines: Industry 4.0 and Smart Factory; Industry 4.0 and SME; SME and Cybersecurity; Digitalization, SMEs, and Entrepreneurship. Second, our paper contributes to the literature by highlighting the existing gaps. We see that the digital transformation of SMEs entails increasing exposure to possible cyberattacks, which can be a determining factor for digitalization and, additionally, can affect the future of the SME business. In this context, we see that this gap has not been covered, as research lines have been found that focus on these issues but are unconnected. Regarding future research, we can predict that cybersecurity in SMEs will be a particular case of cybersecurity in firms, separated from research on digitalization in SMEs, which addresses issues such as smart factories and Industry 4.0 objectives in these enterprises

Cybersecurity Resilience in SMEs. A Machine Learning Approach

This study investigates cybersecurity resilience in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on three key aspects: the capacity to handle potential cyber incidents, the ability to recover from such incidents, and the capability to adapt in the face of possible cyber threats. Grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) framework, we conduct an empirical investigation utilizing a survey of 239 UK SMEs. The study makes a theoretical and methodological contribution, with significant implications for managers. First, the study highlights the lack of SMEs’ engagement with the management of cybersecurity and finds cybersecurity incidents to be the most important factor in driving resilience, as compared to cybersecurity capabilities. Moreover, the study also extends the RBV theory, emphasizing the importance of the interaction between cybersecurity capabilities affecting SMEs’ cybersecurity resilience. Second, the study showcases the potential of statistical methods, particularly machine learning techniques to identify the relationships between the factors affecting SMEs’ cybersecurity

The formation of self-management teams in Higher Education institutions. Satisfaction and effectiveness

This paper explores how self-management work groups are formed in higher education institutions and how this affects the effectiveness of the teams. For this, we investigated the experiences of 560 students who were members of self-management learning teams, using factorial analysis, cluster analysis and ordinal logit regression. We focus on self-management teams, where students form work groups autonomously, and making decisions with whom to collaborate. Thus, students influence the composition of their groups, which will condition the internal dynamic of teams, and its subsequent effect on the effectiveness of the groups. Our paper contributes to the literature on student-centred perspectives highlighting how the formation of self-management teams has an impact on their satisfaction and effectiveness. Moreover, we identify four criteria (competencies, academic level, social relationships, and ad hoc) during the formation of self-management teams that have a differential impact on the effectiveness and potential conflict in the team. Additionally, our results reveal three groups of students, regarding the formation criteria of self-management teams: a first group where the academic level criteria prevails, a second group based on competencies, and finally, a group that combines social relationships and ad hoc criteria. Moreover, we find that self-management teams based on the competencies and academic level criteria have a higher level of effectiveness and satisfaction than the formation of self-management teams based on social relations and ad hoc decisions. Moreover, the results show that the exclusive use of academic level as a formation criteria is potentially a source of conflict in the self-management team