Cluster-based innovation policies: a methodological approach applied to biotechnology research in Flanders.

In this paper, we apply a network methods approach to understand clustering in new technologies. Sociometric modelling techniques are used to map the technology relationships between academic as well as industry organisations in the field of transgene plants. We demonstrate how different clusters of innovative organisations can be detected and how these clusters can be related to the evolution of the new technology. Implications for technology policy are discussed.Biotechnology; Methods; Industry; Implications;

Technologies to develop technology: the impact of new technologies on the organisation of the innovation process.

Companies are under increasing pressure to develop new product more effectively and efficiently. In order to meet this challenge, the organisation of the new product development process has received ample attention both in the academic literature and in the practitioner literature. As a consequence, a myriad of methods to design new products has been developed. These methods aim at facilitating concurrent product design and engineering. However, it is only recently, through the advent of families of new design technologies, that concurrency really becomes possible. In this paper, research on the impact of new design technologies on the product development process is reported and discussed. It is demonstrated that these technologies can have a significant impact on the organisation of innovation processes.Processes;

Using a bibliometric approach to support research policy decisions: The case of the Flemish BOF-key.

In this paper, we describe the development of a methodology and an instrument to support a major research funding allocation decision by the Flemish government. Over the last decade, and in parallel with the decentralization and the devolution of the Belgian federal policy authority towards the various regions and communities in the country, science and technology policy have become a major component of regional policy making. In the Flemish region, there has been an increasing focus on basing the funding allocation decisions that originate from this policy decentralization on 'objective, quantifiable and repeatable' decision parameters. One of the data sources and indicator bases that have received ample attention in this evolution is the use of bibliometric data and indicators. This has now led to the creation of a dedicated research and policy support staff, called 'Steunpunt O&O Statistieken,' and the first time application of bibliometric data and methods to support a major inter-university funding allocation decision. In this paper, we analyze this evolution. We show how bibliometric data have for the first time been used to allocate 93 million Euro of public research money between 6 Flemish universities for the fiscal year 2003, based on Web-of-Science SCI data provided to 'Steunpunt O&O Statistieken' via a license agreement with Thomson-ISI. We also discuss the limitations of the current approach that was based on inter-university publication and citation counts. We provide insights into future adaptations that might make it more representative of the total research activity at the universities involved (e.g. by including data for the humanities) and of its visibility (e.g. by including impact measures). Finally, based on our current experience and interactions with the universities involved, we speculate on the future of the specific bibliometric approach that has now been adopted. More specifically, we hypothesize that the allocation method now developed and under further improvement will become more criticized if it turns out that it (1) also starts influencing intra-university research allocation decisions and, as a consequence (2) introduces adverse publication and citation behaviors at the universities involved.Policy; Decisions; Decision;

Adaptation and survival in new businesses: Understanding the moderating effects of (in)dependence and industry.

New ventures as well as new business units experience significant difficulties in finding a viable market application or business model. They often need to adapt their initial business model and this need for adaptation is mainly due to high degrees of uncertainty and ambiguity they are confronted with. This paper hypothesizes that adaptation is crucial for new ventures' and new business units' survival, but that differences exist between the need for adaptation in business units of established companies versus in independent start-ups. According to insights obtained from institutional isomorphism as well as from the resource-based theory of the firm, the effects of adaptation on survival are complex and multifaceted. We test the adaptation-survival hypothesis through a survival analysis of a sample of 117 new ventures and new business units. We find that the main effect of adaptation on survival is negative, but that this effect is moderated and even reversed by the (in) dependence of the new business and by the industry in which it is active.Innovation; Research; Model; Companies; Performance; Startups; Processes; Factors; Effects; Industry; Market; Uncertainty; Theory; Dependence;

Advanced bibliometric to model the relationship between entry behaviour and networking emerging technological communities.

Organisational ecology and social network theory are used to explain entries in technological communities. Using bibliometric data on 411 organisations in the field of plant biotechnology, we test several hypotheses that entry is not only influenced by the density of the field, but also by the structure of the R&D network within the community. The empirical findings point to the usefulness of bibliometric data in mapping change and evolution in technological communities as well as to the effects of networking on entry behaviour.Model;

The impact of networking on innovative performance of new biotechnology firms: a combined econometric and scientometric analysis.

This paper examines the impact of firm resources and network capabilities on innovative performance in a population of 117 biotech companies. After controlling for the traditional size and scope effects, the managerial focus of the firms' R&D activities and their collaboration activities with external partners (in majority universir-ties) become the central variables in ou study. A (unbalanced) panel nalysis of the firms over a twenty-year period shows the highly significant impact of research focus and networking activities on innovative performance.Biotechnology;

On the design of knowledge tranfer mechanism: applying the incomplete contracts model to developments in biotechnology.

This paper proposes a framework on how different mechanisms for knowledge transfer can be linked to the underlying technological life-cycle. Drawing on recent insights from the organizational economics literature, we analyze the design of knowledge transfer mechanisms and structures from an incentive point of view. The basic version of the incomplete contracts model (or property rights model) was adapted to include knowledge as an asset. Several empirical hypotheses can be derived from this model. They are contrasted with other theoretical approaches to model organizational growth and development, as we are specifically interested in the use of new ventures creation as a technology transfer mechanism. Using this framework as a starting point, a limited empirical test is two sub-fields of modern biotechnology : monoclonal antibodies and protein engineering. The results are interesting: the property rights model may add to current insights on spin-offs as a mechanism for knowledge transfer as well as to a better understanding of the incentive structures that influence an organization's decision to enter a technological collaboration with a university or another biotech firm.Model; Knowledge; Biotechnology;

Entrepreneurial adaptation: Insights from existing literature and possibilities for new research.

Recent research shows that new ventures have great difficulties in defining a viable business model from the outset and that minor or major adaptations to this initial business model are needed as the venture evolves. Entrepreneurial adaptation or the entrepreneur's willingness and ability to make appropriate adjustments to the business concept become critical. If adaptation is so important for entrepreneurial companies, we need to ask ourselves a number of questions. (1) What causes this need for adaptation? (2a) What is the precise effect of adaptation on a start-up's performance or survival and (2b) is this effect similar for all start-ups? Also, (3) what do we know about the process of adaptation? And (4) what are factors enabling this adaptation process? Finally, we also need to determine (5) how the concept of adaptation in entrepreneurial companies is related to existing concepts of change and adaptation. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of different literature streams that are specifically relevant to entrepreneurial adaptation and the questions listed above, and to point out gaps in the existing literature requiring further investigation. We look at whether and how the existing literature can provide insight into each of those five questions. In a final section, we point out directions for further research.Innovation; Research; Model; Companies; Performance; Startups; Processes; Factors;

Towards an ecological understanding of firm founding and growth in emergent populations.

Organizational ecology is a fast growing domain in organization theory. During the past few years, the theory has evolved from a collection of rather unrelated concepts towards an integrated model of failure and founding, which has been tested with advanced empirical techniques. Despite this increasing convergence within the ecological boundaries, little integration occurs with other intellectual streams which can either be considered as complementary to a density dependence model or as a challenge to the basic assumptions of this model. This paper presents both a review of the theoretical and empirical methods developed during the past five years and an assessment of future research opportunities : can institutional theory, strategic management and industrial economics enrich and stretch the boundaries of the ecological model?