68 research outputs found
Old Technology Meets New Technology: Complementarities, Similarities, and Alliance Formation
Alliance formation is commonplace in many high-technology industries experiencing radical technological change, where
established firms use alliances with new entrants to adapt to technological change, while new entrants benefit from the
ability of established players to commercialize the new technology. Despite the prevalence of these alliances, we know little
about how these firms choose to ally with specific firms given the range of possible partners they may choose from. This
study explores factors that lead to alliance formation between pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. We focus on
the alliance tie as the unit of analysis and argue that dyadic complementarities and similarities directly influence alliance
formation. We then introduce a contingency model in which the positive effect of complementarities and similarities on
alliance formation is moderated by the age of the new technology firm. We draw theoretical attention to the intersection
between levels of analysis, in particular, the intersection between dyadic and firm-level constructs. We find that a
pharmaceutical and a biotechnology firm are more likely to enter an alliance based on complementarities when the
biotechnology firm is younger. Another noteworthy contribution is the finding that proxies for broad capabilities appear to
be at least as, if not more, effective in predicting alliance formation compared to fine-grained science and technology-related
indicators, like patent cross citations or patent common citations. We conclude by suggesting that future studies on alliance
formation need to take into account interactions across levels; for example, how dyadic capabilities interact with firm-level
factors
Building Dynamic Capabilities: Innovation Driven By Individual, Firm, and Network Level Effects
Following the dynamic capabilities perspective, we suggest that antecedents to innovation can be found at the individual,
firm, and network level. Thus, we challenge two assumptions common in prior research: (1) that significant variance exists
at the focal level of analysis, while other levels of analysis are assumed to be homogeneous, and (2) that the focal level of
analysis is independent from other levels of analysis. Accordingly, we advance a set of hypotheses to simultaneously assess the
direct effects of antecedents at the individual, firm, and network level on innovation output. We then investigate whether a
firm’s antecedents to innovation lie across different levels. To accomplish this, we propose two competing interaction
hypotheses. We juxtapose the hypothesis that the individual, firm, and network level antecedents to innovation are
substitutes versus the proposition that these innovation mechanisms are complements. We test our multi-level theoretical
model using an unusually comprehensive and detailed panel dataset that documents the innovation attempts of global
pharmaceutical companies within biotechnology over a 22-year time period (1980-2001). We combine these data with
direct field observations conducted prior to, during, and after the completion of the study. We find evidence that the
antecedents to innovation lie across different levels of analysis and can have compensating or reinforcing effects on firm-level
innovative output
Exploring the role of individual level and firm level dynamic capabilities in SMEs’ internationalization
This paper presents a multi-level model that examines the impact of dynamic capabilities on the internationalization of SMEs while taking into account the interactions among them. The purpose of the research is to understand the applicability of dynamic capabilities at the individual and the firm level to the SME internationalization process in developing country context and to assess to what extent a firm’s asset position and individual level dynamic capabilities influence the generation of firm level dynamic capabilities in SMEs. First, the dynamic capabilities theory was theoretically linked to the internationalization phenomenon. The relationships among firm-level dynamic capabilities, individual-level dynamic capabilities (owner specific dynamic capabilities), and internationalization were identified. The research framework and hypotheses were developed and empirically tested with 197 SMEs. The findings established that owner-specific dynamic capabilities have a positive influence on both firm dynamic capabilities and internationalization, and firm dynamic capabilities positively influence internationalization. It was also found that the market assets position measured as perceptual environmental dynamism positively influenced firm dynamic capabilities but structural and reputational asset positions of SMEs did not influence generation of firm dynamic capabilities. Moreover, firm dynamic capabilities had a mediation effect in the relationship between owner-specific dynamic capabilities and internationalization. Theoretically, this confirms the relevance of dynamic capability theory to internationalization and the possibility of integrating existing internationalization theories. Entrepreneurs, SME managers, and policy-makers could gain valuable insights on how entrepreneur and firm capabilities lead to better international prospects from this outcome
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