Returns-Based Beliefs and The Prisoner's Dilemma

Economists have highlighted a number of game-theoretic contradictions and paradoxes i

Business model innovation and third-party alliance on the survival of new firms

In this study, we address the question of how the degree of business model innovation affects the survival of new firms. We present a newly constructed data set of 129 new firms that launched electronic trading platforms in the US bond market between 1995 and 2004 following the advent of Internet technology. We analyze the founding and survival of these new firms during the period of our study. We find that new firms with a high or low degree of business model innovation are more likely to survive for longer than new firms with a moderate degree of business model innovation. We show that partnering with third-party firms with complementary assets reduces the survival of new firms as the degree of business model innovation increases. We discuss the implications of our findings for managers, policy-makers and researchers.This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497214001291

Evolutionary or revolutionary business model innovation through coopetition? The role of dominance in network markets

This paper examines how the level of dominance in firms affects when they engage in coopetition in order to innovate their business model. We present a longitudinal and in-depth single case study of the business model innovation decisions of investment banks in the US corporate bond trading market. We find that, in network markets, when firms choose to engage in coopetition in light of competitive threat it is done so in order to adopt a defensive or offensive strategy. The study shows that in network markets the less dominant firms tend to engage in coopetition to innovate their business model in an evolutionary manner before the dominant firms, as a defensive strategy to protect their existing business model. In contrast, the dominant firms tend to engage in coopetition to innovate their business model in a revolutionary manner after the less dominant firms, as an offensive strategy to alter radically their existing business model. We draw implications of coopetition in network markets for both theory and practice.This study was supported by funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.11.00

Malaysianization and the Barlow Boustead Estates Agency

The Malaysian government’s approach to soft nationalisation through the New Economic Policy did not involve coerced sale of foreign investments in the country. The Government formulated its policy on an ‘expanding cake’ theory, where the prospect of gains from economic growth would be offset by the loss of control by the sale of equity to local and indigenous investors. This study examines the complex corporate divestment undertaken by a major foreign-owned agency house in Malaysia, the Barlow Boustead Estates Agency (BBEA) in response to the New Economic Policy. Documents in the Barlow family archive at the University of Cambridge reveal how the Malaysian government’s policy of reducing foreign ownership in the economy led to competition among foreign investors to retain ownership up to the allowable limits. Such competition created an unattractive environment for foreign capital and eventually led to ‘default nationalisation’. The owners of BBEA were eventually opted to sell to Government-backed institutional investors, although they had no legal obligation to do so.Chander Velu would like to acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC - EP/R024367/1)

Knowledge management capabilities of lead firms in innovation ecosystems

Knowledge management is a key capability for innovation. Prior research has typically conceptualized and examined knowledge management capabilities as a property of an individual firm or business unit. More recently, however, the locus of competition and innovation has started to shift from the individual firm to firms working together as an ecosystem. In light of these changing realities, we explicate a set of capabilities that are built, maintained, and exercised by the lead firm in order to enhance innovation within ecosystems. We highlight three knowledge management capabilities: (1) knowledge acquisition, (2) knowledge sharing, and (3) knowledge utilization. Drawing on open and closed action strategies firms use to foster team-based innovation, we develop propositions for the knowledge management capabilities of the lead firm. Our approach highlights three salient tensions that arise from team based innovation: autonomy–control, dissent–consent and uncertainty–certainty. We highlight how the three tensions need to be managed across knowledge management capabilities in order to increase the rate of innovation of the ecosystem. In doing so, we contribute to the evolving marketing literature on sensing and responding in ecosystems in order to provide customers with superior value. We discuss the implications for both managers and theory.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13162-015-0068-

Homophily and the speed of social mobilization: the effect of acquired and ascribed traits.

Large-scale mobilization of individuals across social networks is becoming increasingly prevalent in society. However, little is known about what affects the speed of social mobilization. Here we use a framed field experiment to identify and measure properties of individuals and their relationships that predict mobilization speed. We ran a global social mobilization contest and recorded personal traits of the participants and those they recruited. We studied the effects of ascribed traits (gender, age) and acquired traits (geography, and information source) on the speed of mobilization. We found that homophily, a preference for interacting with other individuals with similar traits, had a mixed role in social mobilization. Homophily was present for acquired traits, in which mobilization speed was faster when the recuiter and recruit had the same trait compared to different traits. In contrast, we did not find support for homophily for the ascribed traits. Instead, those traits had other, non-homophily effects: Females mobilized other females faster than males mobilized other males. Younger recruiters mobilized others faster, and older recruits mobilized slower. Recruits also mobilized faster when they first heard about the contest directly from the contest organization, and decreased in speed when hearing from less personal source types (e.g. family vs. media). These findings show that social mobilization includes dynamics that are unlike other, more passive forms of social activity propagation. These findings suggest relevant factors for engineering social mobilization tasks for increased speed

Does Blockchain for 3D Printing Offer Opportunities for Business Model Innovation?

Blockchain combined with 3D printing offers businesses untapped opportunities. Blockchain can help businesses overcome intellectual property and data security barriers, allowing them to take advantage of emerging 3D printing business models. Specifically, blockchain can facilitate local manufacturing and may lay the groundwork for new business models like industrial design marketplaces and shared factories. Businesses could also improve their value proposition by offering additional services around a printed part, improving value delivery, and offering less costly and more customized products that involve fewer risks. Blockchain could transform the way firms create, deliver, and capture value in 3D printing ecosystems.Chander Velu would like to acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/R024367/1 and EP/K039598/1