Determinants of growth in research spin-offs: a resource-based perspective

International audienceThere are strong expectations towards research spin-offs, but insufficient empirical evidence still exists on the determinants of growth of such companies. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on growth -or non-growth- of research spin-offs through a focus on Italy. A resource-based perspective is adopted for identifying the crucial determinants of competitive advantage of these companies, and an OLS regression analysis is performed to assess the impact of initial resources on growth in revenues and employees. Our analysis highlights unexpected results about the involvement of industrial partners, venture capitalists, size of IPRs’ portfolio at founding and previous experience of the promoting partners.Il existe de fortes attentes en ce qui concerne les entreprises spin-off de la recherche, mais il existe encore peu d’évidence empirique sur les déterminants de la croissance de ces entreprises. L'objectif de cet article est de contribuer au débat sur la croissance -ou la non-croissance- des entreprises spin-off de la recherche en mettant l'accent sur l'Italie. Une perspective basée sur les ressources est adoptée pour identifier les déterminants cruciaux de l'avantage concurrentiel de ces entreprises, et une analyse de régression OLS est effectuée pour évaluer l'impact des ressources initiales sur la croissance des revenus et des employés. Notre analyse met en évidence des résultats inattendus concernant la participation de partenaires industriels, de capital-risqueurs, la taille du portefeuille de DPI à la fondation et l'expérience antérieure des partenaires de promotion

Enhancing SME innovation across European regions: Success factors in EU-funded open innovation networks

This study examines the funding allocations to Open Innovation (OI) networks involving small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) and other organizational actors by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation program (2018–2021). Using a unique dataset of program application information at the participant level, the technological, organizational and locational characteristics of SMEs' OI innovation networks are analyzed. Success in securing funding is found to be linked to host regional innovation performance and to technological distance among SMEs and their partners, while organizational distance has a curvilinear effect. Counter to program objectives, partner heterogeneity has some mixed effects. Insights are offered for SMEs on strategic positioning and to policymakers on the design of future innovation policy initiatives

Managing open innovation projects: an evidence-based framework for SMEs and large companies cooperation

Purpose – How can joint open innovation (OI) projects between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies (LCs) be effectively managed? This study aims to try to answer this research question with a focus on the critical success factors (CSFs) of such cooperation. Design/methodology/approach – Based on 40 semi-structured interviews with Italian SMEs and LCs engaged in various industries, 20 open OI projects involving SMEs and LCs are investigated using a reflexive thematic analysis, a methodology involving both deductive and inductive approaches. Findings – Fifteen CSFs grouped into seven categories emerge from the analysis of joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Among them, shared leadership, dynamic decision-making and priority setting emerge as essential elements at the basis of the proposed SMEs–LCs cooperation in joint OI projects that were not sufficiently addressed by prior studies. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide an evidence- based framework for managing joint OI projects between SMEs and LCs. Relatedly, this study links the practices and most recurring CSFs that facilitate such cooperation. Keywords Decision-making, Open innovation, Critical success factors, Small and medium-sized enterprises, Strategic flexibility, Large companies, Knowledge and innovation management, Project managemen

The human side of entrepreneurship: an empirical investigation of relationally embedded ties with stakeholders

Purpose – Humane Entrepreneurship (HumEnt) is strongly purpose-oriented and characterized by a focus on inclusiveness and social and environmental sustainability, with attention to both internal and external stakeholders and their needs. In the attempt to provide new research in this field, this study aims to conduct an empirical investigation within the theory of HumEnt and, in particular, of the Human Resource Orientation (HRO) model among Italian Small and Medium-size Enterprises. Design/methodology/approach – Based on quantitative data, this study used a deductive approach to investigate the relationship between the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness with different types of stakeholders (value chain stakeholders and societal stakeholders, respectively). More concretely, to investigate the relationships between the dimensions of the HumEnt model and firms’ relational embeddedness, partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied.Findings – Findings of this study suggest that Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) directly contributes only to value chain embeddedness. However, the results also show that if EO is mediated by an HRO (i.e. companies with a high HRO), a high level of societal embeddedness is also present. Originality/value – This study represents a first attempt to provide comprehensive empirical evidence about the different dimensions characterizing the HumEnt theoretical model, and to highlight their relevance in supporting companies’ relational embeddedness capacity with different categories of stakeholders

Metodologie per l’individuazione dei settori high-tech. Il caso della Toscana

Il presente lavoro, oltre a fornire una rassegna della letteratura scientifica sull’importanza della dimensione territoriale nell’analisi dei settori ad alta tecnologia, affronta una serie di possibili criteri di misurazione di tali fenomeni in base alla concentrazione territoriale delle imprese. Si pone infatti spesso in questo ambito l’esigenza di trovare il giusto equilibrio tra la scelta di cogliere le dimensioni il più possibile “reali” del settore e quella di disporre di statistiche ufficiali su di esso. Per queste ultime, un vincolo molto importante è rappresentato dal trade off tra l’obiettivo di garantire la confrontabilità e la integrabilità di dati di fonti diverse e la possibilità di un’“aderenza reale” delle informazioni alle caratteristiche dell’universo oggetto di indagine. A partire da valutazioni su uno dei settori ad alta tecnologia a maggiore diffusione nell’unità territoriale scelta (la Toscana), che è il comparto delle Information and Communication Technologies, viene qui presentata una metodologia che tende a soddisfare la necessità di ricorrere a fonti ufficiali, più complete e confrontabili, procedendo ad una “riclassificazione” degli archivi amministrativi, e conduce a risultati parzialmente indipendenti dall’attribuzione del codice ATECO e più aderenti alla reale attività svolta dalle imprese stesse. I risultati ottenuti per il territorio della Toscana, e almeno in parte validati da una indagine field sulle imprese appartenenti ai livelli più elevati di qualificazione evidenziano la possibile stratificazione prodotta dal criterio di selezione e la sua aderenza ad altre forme “empiriche” di indagine, tra cui quella dell’Osservatorio sulle imprese high-tech della Toscana.

Ready for Take-Off”. How Open Innovation Influences Startup Success.

New ventures’ formation is among the most significant sources of technological innovations and fast economic development. Nonetheless, most of the attempts will never be successful: It is a common saying in Silicon Valley that nine out of ten start-ups fail or suspend their activities without growing (they start “walking dead”) within 5 years. This paper links entrepreneurship and open innovation research in order to provide an integrated view of the probability of a startup to succeed. We suggest that the probability of startup success depends on five main factors, namely (i) the variety of OI practices performed by the founding team; (ii) the breadth of knowledge skills in the founding team; (iii) the amount (the depth) of the team’s prior joint experience; (iv) the moderating effect of the breadth of knowledge skills on prior joint experience (the team’s “learning potential”) and (v) the type of innovation ecosystem a start-up is embedded in. We draw on a unique database built from the business plans of 134 startups participating to the final round of INTEL Global Challenge (IGC) at UC Berkeley (California) from 2005 to 2012. We test five research hypotheses through logistic regression estimates. The model assesses the influence of “openness”, learning potential and innovation ecosystems on the odds of startup “Take-off” (with respect to failure). We find that the extent to which teams build on external innovation sources and integrate external knowledge in the pre-startup phase is a strong determinant of startup success. From an organisational perspective, a higher learning potential (the moderating effect of diversity of skills in the founding team on prior joint experience working at the technology), positively influences the odds of “Take-off”. Moreover, being incubated during the pre-startup phase significantly increases this probability. Our analysis extends previous entrepreneurship research on successful new venture creation and suggests new fields for research on OI in SMEs. Moreover, we take into consideration the role of “open environments” (innovation ecosystems), one of the most actual topics in OI research

The right to compensation for miscarriage of justice and the patrimonial responsibility of the State to ensure effective access to justice: The case of Mexico

El derecho de acceso a la justicia, derecho humano y principio básico del Estado de derecho es esencial para garantizar un desarrollo sostenible y sociedades más justas y pacíficas. Para asegurar su efectividad, los Estados deben implementar medidas para salvaguardar, entre otros, derechos, garantías y protección judicial. Por esta razón, debemos referirnos a la agenda de Naciones Unidas sobre los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible, particularmente el objetivo 16, acceso a la justicia, para hacer una crítica respecto de la creación de estrategias y acciones en un tema que se ha omitido por el legislador mexicano, la indemnización por error judicial, ya que el marco legal y de interpretación no contribuye a exigirle al Estado una responsabilidad directa y objetiva por los daños causados a una persona que ha sido privada de su libertad injustamente.The right of access to justice, human right and basic principle of the rule of Law, is essential to guarantee a sustainable development and more just and peace-ful societies. To ensure its effectiveness, States must implement measures to safeguard, among others, rights, guarantees and judicial protection. This is why we must refer to the UN Agenda on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly objective 16, ac-cess to justice, to make a criticism regarding the creation of strategies and actions on a topic that has been omitted by the Mexican legislator: compensation for miscarriage of justice. This is because the legal and interpretative framework does not contribute to demanding from the State a direct and objective responsibility for the damages caused to those who have been deprived of their freedom unjustly

Digital platform innovation in European SMEs

The study explores how European SMEs applying to the SME Instrument (SMEi) funding scheme under Horizon 2020 innovate use the digital platform business model. The study demonstrates a widespread awareness of the digital platform concept as a tool to be applied to gain momentum and growth, taking advantage of the digital affordances. The main challenges to scale-up include how to manage external communities and orchestrate them in order to build innovation ecosystems; how to find a profitable business model; and secure funding for growth. Firms located in peripheral regions face additional difficulties in finding complementary resources.JRC.B.6-Digital Econom

Is chlorophyll-athe best surrogate for organic matter enrichment in submicron primary marine aerosol?

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The metabolic adaptation evoked by arginine enhances the effect of radiation in brain metastases

Selected patients with brain metastases (BM) are candidates for radiotherapy. A lactatogenic metabolism, common in BM, has been associated with radioresistance. We demonstrated that BM express nitric oxide (NO) synthase 2 and that administration of its substrate l-arginine decreases tumor lactate in BM patients. In a placebo-controlled trial, we showed that administration of l-arginine before each fraction enhanced the effect of radiation, improving the control of BM. Studies in preclinical models demonstrated that l-arginine radiosensitization is a NO-mediated mechanism secondary to the metabolic adaptation induced in cancer cells. We showed that the decrease in tumor lactate was a consequence of reduced glycolysis that also impacted ATP and NAD+ levels. These effects were associated with NO-dependent inhibition of GAPDH and hyperactivation of PARP upon nitrosative DNA damage. These metabolic changes ultimately impaired the repair of DNA damage induced by radiation in cancer cells while greatly sparing tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.Fil: Marullo, Rossella. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Castro, Monica. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yomtoubian, Shira. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Nieves Calvo Vidal, M.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Revuelta, María Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Krumsiek, Jan. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Nicholas, Andrew P.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Cresta Morgado, Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Yang, ShaoNing. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Medina, Vanina Araceli. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas; ArgentinaFil: Roth, Berta María Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Bonomi, Marcelo. Ohio State University; Estados UnidosFil: Keshari, Kayvan R.. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Estados UnidosFil: Mittal, Vivek. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Navigante, Alfredo Hugo. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Cerchietti, Leandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Oncología "Ángel H. Roffo"; Argentin