A theoretical and empirical contribution for a better understanding of academic spin-offs’ growth patterns

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the current debate about the growth patterns of academic spin-offs by focusing on the Italian context. In order to identify some growth determinants, we study the initial resource base, the firms’ market strategy and their network of relationships with the parent Public Research Organisations (PROs), by controlling for industry, competitive forces, local context, firms’ age and size. In consideration of the complexity of growth phenomena, we study three growth measures, namely employment, revenues and total asset growth. Our multivariate analysis shows that the bundle of initial assets lying at the heart of the firms’ growth prospects include the formal involvement of an industrial shareholder, the targeting of a large and broadly-defined market and the availability of a strong network of formal relationships with the parent PROs. On the contrary, the volume of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) portfolio, the experience previously ripened by the promoting partners in R&D and production functions and the availability of informal support mechanisms from the parent PROs do impact negatively and significantly on growth processes with regard to total assets. Finally, the specific New Product Development (NPD) stage, the amount of the starting capital, the formal involvement of a Venture Capital (VC), the experience previously ripened by the promoting partners in commercial and managerial functions and the breadth of the target market do not significantly affect growth processes.

Technology Transfer Offices (TTO) in Italian universities: what they do and how they do it

The contribution of the knowledge producing sector to the innovative activity of firms, and to economic development in general is widely recognised. Nevertheless, several new important subtopics have emerged during the last two decades, which represent increasingly important research issues for academics and policy makers.

Industrial R&D in Italy: Exploration and Exploitation Strategies in Industrial R&D

This paper discusses four types of strategic decisions in technology management in established firms. It is well known that deciding between exploration and exploitation in R&D, and eventually combining the two strategies, is a crucial issue. However, we argue that more attention, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective, should be paid to the strategic solutions which are implemented as a consequence of such decisions, as well as to the various types of interactions between strategic decisions and organizational solutions in industrial R&D. Here we apply to R&D management concepts derived from the industrial dynamics literature, and use a theoretical framework to describe and analyse four case studies concerning the largest R&D centres of Italian firms operating in different industrial sectors (telecommunications, automotive, communication and cables, and semiconductors). The different approaches that those private R&D centres have chosen in their recent past are compared and discussed. More specifically, we try and analyze the patterns of exploration, technology transfer and commercialization that industrial R&D labs have adopted in order to combine short-term objectives of exploitation of research results and competencies, and long-term goals of exploration of new technological trajectories. The proposed approach is based upon the use of two dimensions: first, the type of technological change, and second the control of complementary assets and the existence of a dominant design. We argue that the interpretation of the four case studies can represent a useful basis for discussion among R&D managers as well as innovation and technology management scholars.

Industrial R&D in Italy: What are new dynamics of exploitation and exploration?

This paper aims at exploring the dynamics of industrial R&D activities in large companies. Through the use of four case studies of the largest R&D centers of Italian firms operating in different industrial sectors (telecommunications, automotive, rubber and plastics, and semiconductors), we try and compare the different approaches that private R&D centers have chosen in the recent past, to face the challenges of growing complexity in their research areas and increasing constraints in budgets devoted to R&D activities. The difficulties Italian companies face in the management of their R&D investments have to do with the specificities of a fairly weak national innovation system as well as with challenges that are common to other national and industrial contexts.

Through the eyes of industrial researchers: how new “Connect & Develop” practices change the role of human resources in the lab

An intense debate is going on about more “open” strategies that are supposedly diffusing in industrial R&D. We here discuss the relationship between such practices and Human Resources Management (HRM) in industrial R&D Labs. The paper in fact aims at representing an original attempt of looking at the linkage between R&D strategy and HRM in some Italian high-tech firms. In particular, we identify, select and discuss a set of variables related to the management of HR in R&D that fit with the reconceptualization of innovation proposed by Chesbrough in the “Open Innovation” (OI) paradigm and inspired by the example of P&G’s model of Connect and Develop (C&D). More precisely, our objective is that of investigating the role of HRM in the shift towards “Open Innovation” through the bottom-up lenses of industrial researchers’ characteristics, feelings and behaviours. What we here suggest is that by observing behaviour and expectations of R&D workers, we can investigate the acceptance and implementation of new R&D management practices. Our empirical base is represented by 330 questionnaires completed by R&D personnel and collected through an online survey. The results have been discussed with the HR managers of each company, in order to also gain a “top-down” perspective on the observed dynamics. The research is carried out around three main groups of issues: HR characteristics (e.g., demographic parameters, productivity, time horizons, satisfaction, expectations, mobility, education), job organization aspects (e.g., teamwork vs. individual research, flexibility, decisional centres, work time allocation, type of relationships, communication flows), and HRM tools (e.g., talent attraction, training, evaluation methods, goal definition, roles, leadership, responsibility, incentives, career systems, problem sources). According to Chesbrough, firms fitting the OI model present characteristics related to the R&D structure itself. Nonetheless, even if this model has been widely enthusiastically discussed and sometimes criticized by both practitioners and researchers, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of how such changes effect dynamics and daily operations of an R&D lab. Our empirical analysis ultimately aims at understanding to what extent the shift towards an extended definition of R&D, which includes the new concept of C&D, can be considered as one of the main potential factors of change in HR organization. Beyond the relevance of our findings for the debate among scholars, we argue that managerial implications may derive from a better knowledge of individual perceptions and behaviours of R&D personnel. In fact, the changing pattern of innovation processes implies parallel changes in the organization of R&D labs, where the role of the most important component, i. e. researchers themselves, is not always adequately considered. This paper is a first attempt to explore these relationships. Through a convenience sample we first attempted to test various strategies to best collect data, provide timely valuable feedbacks to our industrial partners and better define our framework, matching early results with existing theories. Further research will aim at making the sample representative of the Italian industrial R&D system.Open Innovation Human Resources Management

Pursuing innovative actions during Covid-19 crisis: a qualitative analysis of family firms’ resilience

Purpose: The study aims to broaden and refine the extant theory in the area of resilience in family firms during a grand challenge such as Covid-19. More specifically, the study aims to explore how characteristics that normally contribute to the resilience of family businesses also influence their innovative actions when facing a grand challenge Design/methodology/approach. This study reviews what has been written on resilience in family firms and their innovative actions in the exceptional context of Covid-19. Then, through an inductive approach based on multiple case studies, qualitative data (primary and secondary sources of information) collected from five Italian family businesses that have demonstrated success in responding to Covid-19 are triangulated. Findings. The findings seem to reveal that, during Covid-19, some features that normally contribute to the resilience of family firms (i.e. trust, long-term orientation, centralized and personalized authority structures, and patient capital) also contribute to their resilience, through innovative actions, to react to the Covid-19 grand challenge. Originality of the study. The study reveals that a further element (namely purpose driven orientation) not previously discussed in family business literature allowed the firms analyzed to be resilient during the Covid-19. Drawing on these findings, our paper aims to enrich the current understanding of family firms’ resilience for both academics and managers

Determinants of growth in research spin-offs: a resource-based perspective

International audienceThere are strong expectations towards research spin-offs, but insufficient empirical evidence still exists on the determinants of growth of such companies. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on growth -or non-growth- of research spin-offs through a focus on Italy. A resource-based perspective is adopted for identifying the crucial determinants of competitive advantage of these companies, and an OLS regression analysis is performed to assess the impact of initial resources on growth in revenues and employees. Our analysis highlights unexpected results about the involvement of industrial partners, venture capitalists, size of IPRs’ portfolio at founding and previous experience of the promoting partners.Il existe de fortes attentes en ce qui concerne les entreprises spin-off de la recherche, mais il existe encore peu d’évidence empirique sur les déterminants de la croissance de ces entreprises. L'objectif de cet article est de contribuer au débat sur la croissance -ou la non-croissance- des entreprises spin-off de la recherche en mettant l'accent sur l'Italie. Une perspective basée sur les ressources est adoptée pour identifier les déterminants cruciaux de l'avantage concurrentiel de ces entreprises, et une analyse de régression OLS est effectuée pour évaluer l'impact des ressources initiales sur la croissance des revenus et des employés. Notre analyse met en évidence des résultats inattendus concernant la participation de partenaires industriels, de capital-risqueurs, la taille du portefeuille de DPI à la fondation et l'expérience antérieure des partenaires de promotion

The human side of entrepreneurship: an empirical investigation of relationally embedded ties with stakeholders

Purpose – Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) is strongly purpose-oriented and characterized by a focus on inclusiveness and social and environmental sustainability, with attention to both internal and external stakeholders and their needs. In the attempt to provide new research in this field, this study aims to conduct an empirical investigation within the theory of HumEnt and, in particular, of the Human Resource Orientation (HRO) model among Italian Small and Medium-size Enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – Based on quantitative data, this study used a deductive approach to investigate the relationship between the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness with different types of stakeholders (value chain stakeholders and societal stakeholders, respectively). More concretely, to investigate the relationships between the dimensions of the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness, partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied.Findings – Findings of this study suggest that Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) directly contributes only to value chain embeddedness. However, the results also show that if EO is mediated by an HRO (i.e. companies with a high HRO), a high level of societal embeddedness is also present. Originality/value – This study represents a first attempt to provide comprehensive empirical evidence about the different dimensions characterizing the HumEnt theoretical model, and to highlight their relevance in supporting companies’ relational embeddedness capacity with different categories of stakeholders