The Role of Social Networks and Internet-based Virtual Environment in Social Entrepreneurship: A Conceptual Model

We present a parsimonious theoretical model that illustrates how Internet-based virtual environments (such as social networking Web sites) moderate the relationship between social networks and social entrepreneurship. Social networks promote social entrepreneurship by means of (a) technology and knowledge transfer; (b) locating information; (c) generating entrepreneurial opportunities; (d) building entrepreneurial competency; (e) financing innovation; and (f) building effective networks for commercialization of innovations. Internet based virtual environments increase the velocity with which online social networks are formed and operationalized. They, thus, have a moderating effect in the relationship between social networks and social entrepreneurship. We also represent three concepts that are core to social networks: density, centrality, and heterogeneity. We posit that all three explain variance in social entrepreneurship and that Internet based virtual environments moderate each of the relationships these three elements of social networks have with social entrepreneurship

Commercialization of Innovations: An Overarching Framework and Research Agenda

Purpose – The commercialization of innovation, which is key to entrepreneurial success, is a combination of several entrepreneurial activities. Building on research from fields of management, strategy, entrepreneurship, economics, and marketing, the paper summarized the extant literature to develop a framework of commercialization and an agenda for future research. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Extensive review of literature, which was comprised of 194 articles across 62 journals in the fields of management, strategy, entrepreneurship, economics, and marketing. Findings – The literature was categorized into six broad themes of entrepreneurial activities: sources of innovations, types of innovation, market entry (capabilities and feasibility), protection, development, and deployment. Most of the research papers that were reviewed were concentrated on single theme. Practical implications – Given the identification of six key themes of entrepreneurial activity leading to the commercialization of innovations, research questions were posed as a means to move the research forward by integrating the themes. Originality/value – This is the first paper in its kind to integrate 194 papers from 62 journals to provide a comprehensive framework of commercialization of innovations

Factors Affecting the Governance of Innovation Commercialization: A Theoretical Model

The ability to commercialize innovations is central to firm survival and success and despite research on parts of the process, there is no overarching framework. Successful commercialization can include retaining ownership of the innovation and bringing it to market, sharing it by licensing or developing it with partners, or by selling it. A firm-level model is constructed that goes from innovation sourcing, through assessment of viability, to selection of the optimum form of governance. External networks and absorptive capacity at the meso level, plus micro- and macro-level factors, as moderators affecting the strength of the relationship between viability and governance are identified. Propositions are generated on these relationships for empirical testing and further theoretical insight

How Open Innovation Affects the Drivers of Competitive Advantage

PURPOSE: This paper aims to explore how community-controlled open innovation affects cost- and differentiation-based competitive advantage, and to explain how it allows some sources of economic rent to remain while others are taken away. Although models of competitive-advantage remain relevant, open innovation means that the main drivers of performance are changed. Open innovation means that there are implications for firms’ ability to profit from intellectual property that they do not own. The paper seeks to address those issues. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The work is conceptual. FINDINGS: Economic rents from property rights disappear, those from economies of scale and capital requirements are reduced, but those from experience-curve effects, differentiation, distribution, and switching costs remain. Similarly, rents from the difficult-to-imitate resources of networks and reputation remain intact, and while those from employee knowhow and culture remain, they are likely to be in reduced amounts. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Propositions are provided for empirical testing. There also is a need to identify breakpoints between open-innovation benefits and the costs associated with lost innovation skills, and a need to extend this work to firm controlled and third-party controlled open innovation. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: For some firms open innovation will not adversely affect competitive advantage but those whose advantage is driven by barriers to entry, skills in innovation and anticipating customer needs, or that rely on proprietary product designs, can lose in the longer term. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Where the majority of work examining open innovation addresses property rights, economic rationales, governance, and processes, this work focuses on the effects of open innovation on strategy content and consequent firm performance

Reflect and Redefine: Deans’ Perspectives on the Positioning of IS within the Business School

Over the 12 years since the glory days of the dot com and Y2K phenomena at the turn of the last century, IS departments at many colleges and schools of business have suffered significant declines in student enrolments, elimination from core curricula, reduced faculty numbers, and overall a weakened strategic positioning within the business school. Recent AACSB faculty hiring and salary reports indicate that “CIS” is the only discipline which has seen an overall decline in faculty hiring over the past 10 years, in contrast with significant growth in all other disciplines. Many IS departments have been merged with other disciplines, or closed entirely. In contrast, however, a number of IS departments have continued to enjoy significant growth and success. This panel of five current/recent business school deans and members of the IS community will offer their perspectives on the strategic positioning of IS within the business school, and share their recommendations on what IS departments need to do to strengthen their positioning within the business school across the domains of teaching, research and relationships with the broader academic and business communities

Educational Disruption & Rising Faculty Expectations

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape of higher education had been primed for upheaval. The pandemic has only accentuated the need for change. Not only have we had to scramble to provide meaningful and valuable content to our students; we have also had to reinvent how that content is delivered. Beyond these changes that have abruptly affected all of us, expectations from students, colleagues, and administrators have unilaterally risen. We are expected to publish more, and in better journals. We are expected to provide more service, internally and externally. We are expected to get better teacher evaluations from students, and to deliver up-to-date content in a way that can convince students that they are benefiting from their paid education more than they would by taking online courses (often for free). The pressure to succeed on all fronts has never been higher. In this panel discussion, seasoned scholars, who have succeeded, will share insights from their experiences navigating this new landscape and reinventing their own mindset and work habits to accommodate the increasing expectations placed on faculty. Each panelist will take the position of a key stakeholder in high education including university leaders, society, the business community, journal editors and students

What Every Business Student Needs to Know About Information Systems

Whether Information Systems should or should not be part of the core business school curriculum is a recurring discussion in many universities. In this article, a task force of 40 prominent information systems scholars address the issue. They conclude that information systems is absolutely an essential body of knowledge for business school students to acquire as well as a key element of the business school\u27s long-run strategic positioning within the university. Originally prepared in response to draft accreditation guidelines prepared by AACSB International, the article includes a compilation of the concepts that the authors believe to be the core information systems knowledge that all business school students should be familiar with

Trujillo, Anabel

Abstract We seek to understand which firms excel at innovation and commercialization. In doing so, we first ranked companies that performed well on four measures: spending on . We then compared our rankings with that of Business Week/Boston Consulting Group's annual ranking of the most innovative companies, which primarily is based on reputation measured as perceptions among sitting CEO's. Somewhat surprisingly, there is not complete overlap between our more quantitative ranking and the one done by Business Week/BCG, and we highlight the reasons why. Second, we tested the relationship among R & D, patents, and product releases and the role they play in driving revenue. We found that although innovation and commercialization are different, they need to be considered together, that perceptions and reality in this realm often do not match, and that joint innovation and commercialization activities can influence the bottom line