Board control and corporate innovation: an empirical study of small technology-based firms

This paper follows a behavioural perspective on boards and governance in exploring the influence of board control on corporate innovation in small technology-based firms. An analysis of 135 Swedish technology-based firms suggests that board involvement in decision control may influence corporate innovation. The empirical results show that board involvement in strategic decision control is positively associated with process innovation, while board involvement in financial decision control is positively associated with organizational innovation. No association is found between board involvement in decision control and product innovation. Overall, the findings suggest that board involvement in decision control may promote corporate innovation but that different kinds of decision control influence different forms of innovation.boards of directors; corporate innovation; decision control; technology-based firms; small firms

Managerial learning and development in small firms: implications based on observations of managerial

In this study we set out to examine the conditions for managerial learning in small firms and the implications it gives for how to facilitate and support work-based management development in this context. Empirically, we conduct structured observations of the daily work activities performed by small business managers. A framework based on experiential learning theory is developed and used as an analytical tool to assess the extent to which these work activities provide them with opportunities for work-based learning and development. In short, the results show that small business managers experience a fragmented working day with frequent and different forms of interruptions and unexpected problems during the course of their working day. These interruptions and unexpected problems are something that leaves little time for engaging in reflective observation to effectively learn from their daily work practices. We discuss the implications of our results for theory and research on managerial learning in small firms as well as for the design of university-led management development programs aimed at supporting the experiential learning process of small business managers.academic Experiential learning; managerial learning; managerial work; management development; small firms; structured observations

Dynamic improvisation capabilities as a learning mechanism in early internationalizing firms

Our study addresses an inconsistency in the literature on whether a lack of knowledge in early internationalizing firms is an obstacle or an advantage. We integrate learning, capabilities, and improvisation literature to reveal how case firms from New Zealand and Finland internationalize early under uncertainty and time pressure. We develop a process model and propositions to show how firms develop improvisation capabilities and subsequently rapidly acquire the international business knowledge that can explain early internationalization. Improvisation and the associated rapid learning complement the learning advantage of newness with an alternative explanation for early internationalization.© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

University professors and research commercialization: An empirical test of the “knowledge corridor” thesis

There has been an increasing interest in the determinants and outcomes of successful technology transfer and commercialization of research results. In this study we test the validity of the “knowledge corridor” thesis for explaining the involvement of university professors’ in the early stages of research commercialization. Statistical analysis on a sample of 86 respondents from engineering, natural science and medical faculties in a large Swedish university shows that both entrepreneurial and private industry experience significantly influence their ability to spot and generate business ideas in their research. Moreover, we find that research based business idea generation increase at a faster rate for professors with private sector work experience who have more time for research in their positions. The article ends with a discussion of our empirical findings together with its implications for support activities related to technology transfer and commercialization of research results.academic entrepreneurship; knowledge corridor; research commercialization

Uncertain Futures : Adaptive capacities to climate variability and change in the Lake Victoria Basin

The Lake Victoria basin (LVB) in East Africa can be considered a climate change hotspot because of its large rural population dependent on rain-fed farming. Drawing on extensive fieldwork (2007-2011) in rural communities along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Tanzania, I explore adaptive capacities to climate variability and change and discuss how they interrelate in situ. Using multiple methods, tools and techniques, including survey and rainfall data, individual and group interviews, interactive mapping of seasonal calendars and a multi-stakeholder workshop, I locate the place-based effects and responses to a number of converging climate induced stressors on smallholder farmers’ wellbeing and natural resources. Research findings show that adaptive capacities to climate variability and change in the LVB are complex, dynamic and characterized by high location-specificity, thereby signifying the value of using an integrative and place-based approach to understand climate vulnerability. Specifically, the study demonstrates how increased unpredictability in rainfall causes chronic livelihood stress illustrated by recurring and worsening periods of food insecurity, growing cash dependency and heavy disease burdens. The study also reveals that food and income buffers increase when and where farmers, particularly women farmers, collectively respond to climate induced stressors through deliberate strategies rooted in a culture of saving and planning. Nevertheless, the study concludes that smallholders in the LVB are facing a highly uncertain future with discernible, yet differentiated adaptation deficits, due to chronic livelihood stress driven by unequal access to fundamental adaptive capacities such as land, health, cash and collective networks

The role of marketing in new ventures: How marketing activities should be organized in firms’ infancy

Although marketing activities are vital for new ventures (NVs) to ensure growth and survival, previous research is silent on how to organize them in firms’ infancy. The entrepreneurship literature focuses on which marketing activities to perform in NVs but not on how to organize these activities, whereas the marketing literature concentrates on how to organize marketing activities in established firms but not in NVs, which face specific opportunities and challenges in their early stage of development. This article aims to tackle this research gap by examining marketing’s role within NVs’ organization. Drawing on in-depth interviews with managers, we identify two key organizational dimensions: marketing’s dispersion (related to the proliferation and, thus, wide anchoring of marketing responsibilities) and marketing’s structuration (related to the manifestation and, thus, deep anchoring of marketing responsibilities). Through a field survey and archival data, we show that marketing’s dispersion enhances NV profitability, while marketing’s structuration decreases it, and that with increasing marketing influence (i.e., power of marketing actors) in NVs and NV maturity (i.e., age and size), this diametrical pattern of effects becomes less pronounced. Overall, the findings provide novel theoretical and practical insights into the organizational design of marketing in firms’ infancy.© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed