Missing the Starting Gun? Entry Timing Decisions into New Market Niches

This study analyzes incumbent entry timing decisions in new markets in the case of Encryption Software (ES). In ES first technological movers were slow to enter the downstream market, losing their initial advantages to the benefit of newcomers. This work tests the hypothesis that this wait-and-see strategy was an optimal choice compared to the assumption of inertia embedded in the decision process of potential entrants. We find that entry decision is not the outcome of firm rational balancing among different strategic variables, but it is more similar to a heuristic process that fails to accommodate the full logic of decision.Entry, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Software.

The Birth of a New Industry: Entry by Start-ups and the Drivers of Firm Growth. The Case of Encryption Software

The paper analyses the birth of the Encryption Software Industry (ESI), a new niche in the software industry. Using a Chandlerian perspective, this work reports the main facts about firm entry and growth, with a particular focus on start-up strategies and actions. Since scale economies do not play a major role in ESI, the paper investigates the different sources of firm competitive advantages. This work shows that innovation and product differentiation, along with investments in co-specialised assets, are variables strongly correlated to young firm probability to survive and grow. In so doing, we have collected highly detailed information on product introduction, US patents granted, worldwide alliances and biographical data of firm founders.Entry, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Software.

Product strategies and survival in schumpeterian environments: evidence from the US security software industry.

This paper seeks to explore the drivers of survival in environments characterized by high rates of entry and exit, fragmented market shares, rapid pace of product innovation and proliferation of young ventures. The paper aims to underscore the role played by postentry product strategies, along with their interaction, after carefully controlling for "at entry" factors and demographic conditions. Based on a population of 270 firms that entered the US security software industry between 1989 and 1998, we find evidence that surviving entities are those that are more aggressive in the adoption of versioning and portfolio broadening strategies. In particular, focusing on any one of these two strategies leads to a higher probability of survival as opposed to adopting a mixed strategy.Survival; Versioning; Portfolio broadening; Young ventures; Sotware;

EU Patent System: to be or not to be?

This paper introduce a list of desirable efficiency properties that any a patent system should have in order to enhance innovation, trade competitiveness, employment mobility and economic growth. We briefly overview the literature on patents and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the present and recent proposals for the future of the European Union Patents System. In particular, we discuss the costinefficiencies observed in the current design of the EU Patent System based in a double structure layer divided in a central European Patent Office (EPO) and several nationalbased patent offices. This paper analyzes the likely backlashes of creating a third layer for a subâ€sample of EU countries. The paper suggests an alternative more efficient Patent System together with some policy implications.Innovation, Patents, Knowledge spillovers, Common European patent, Welfare losses, Patents’ languages, Cultural proximity, Competitive trade

Masters of War: Rivals’ Product Innovation and New Advertising in Mature Product Markets.

We investigate the impact of rivals' product innovation and new advertising on a firm's financial market value in mature product markets. Our test bed is the carbonated soft drink market between 1999 and 2003, a period characterized by a near duopoly between Coca-Cola and Pespi. Empirically, we focus on new product announcements as a proxy of product innovation and on filed trademarks as a measure of new advertising. We find that rival product announcements decrease a firm's financial market value, and that rival filed trademarks increase it. Finally, we find that the effect of new advertising is channeled through market size dynamics, while that of product innovation operates through market share dynamics. Results are robust across different estimation techniques (event study, Tobin's q) and model specifications.Product innovation; Advertising; Firm value; Rivalry; Trademarks;

PRODUCT STRATEGIES AND STARTUPS’ SURVIVAL IN TURBULENT INDUSTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM THE SECURITY SOFTWARE INDUSTRY

This paper seeks to explore the drivers of startups’ survival in turbulent industries, characterized by high rates of entry and exit, fragmented market shares, and a rapid pace of product innovation. Specifically, the paper aims to underscore the role played by post-entry product strategies, along with their interaction, beyond that of pre-entry conditions. Based on a sample of 270 startups that entered the Security Software Industry from 1989 till 1998, we find evidence that surviving entities are those that more aggressively adopt versioning and product portfolio strategies. Interesting enough, strategic learning seems to play a major role: Focusing on one of the two product strategies commands a higher survival probability than adopting a mixed strategy.

The birth of a new industry: entry by start-ups and the drivers of firm growth: The case of encryption software

The paper analyses the birth of the encryption software industry (ESI), a new niche in the software industry. Using a Chandlerian perspective, this work reports the main facts about firm entry and growth, with a particular focus on start-up strategies and actions. Since scale economies do not play a major role in ESI, the paper investigates the different sources of firm competitive advantages. This work shows that innovation and product differentiation, along with investments in co-specialised assets, are variables strongly correlated to young firm probability to survive and grow. In doing so, we have collected highly detailed information on product introduction, US patents granted, worldwide alliances and biographical data of firm founders.Publicad

Community-focused strategies.

This article introduces the notion of community-focused strategies to refer to the set of actions, activities and policies that firms undertake to establish connections or relational links with one or more target communities of (potential) customers. Drawing on social identity theory and strategy research, this study begins with a proposed taxonomy of different community-focused strategies. Then it illustrates how such strategies contribute to the creation of competitive advantage and explores their boundary conditions. Finally, the authors offer implications for theory development and practice, as well as suggestions for further research.Communities; Competitive advantage; Firm strategies; Identity;

Community-based strategies in action: building and sustaining a product differentiation advantage

An important reason why individuals join groups or communities is to satisfy their needs for identity. Firms might exploit this societal tendency to gain a competitive advantage. Using the strategic approach adopted by Kiehl’s, a U.S. cosmetic producer and retailer, as a source of inspiration and illustration, this paper develops a novel theoretical framework to investigate how firms interact with communities to access privileged customers’ information, from which they can build a product differentiation advantage. We argue that by adhering and supporting a well-defined set of values, Kiehl’s both achieves community membership and strengthens the sense of identity that its target communities provide to their members. These investments prompt reciprocal community member behaviors, which the company channels into its customer knowledge development process. Finally, this article describes how firm–community interactions can protect the differentiation advantage by turning products into symbols of the communities to which its customers belong.Product differentiation, Customer knowledge development, Communities, Case study

Missing the starting gun: de alio entry order in new markets, inertia and real option capabilities

This article analyses entry order decisions of incumbent firms diversifying from other industries (de alio entrants) in new markets. We study this issue in the Security Software Industry, a high turbulent industry in which de alio firms were first technological movers but start-ups dominate the downstream product market. With a generalized Tobit estimation of observed entry order decisions, we find that pre-entry firm capabilities that should represent strategic options do not significantly explain firm entry order. The article argues that inertial decisions more than rational assessments drive de alio entry order in Security Software.Publicad