The Impact Of Inward Licensing On New Venture’s Performance. Is inward licensing a winning strategy?

The original idea of the thesis draws on interrelated assumptions: 1) among the tools used, in the markets for technology, for the acquisition of external knowledge, the licensing agreements are acknowledged as one of the most important contractual mechanisms; 2) the liabilities of newness and the liabilities of smallness force new venture to strongly rely on external knowledge sources. Albeit the relevance of this topic, little attention has been paid so far to its investigation, especially in the licensing context; 3) nowadays there is an increasing trend in licensing practices, but the literature on markets for technology focuses almost exclusively on the incentives and rationales that foster firms’ decisions to trade their technologies, under-investigating the role of the acquiring firm, the licensee, overlooking the demand side of the market. Therefore, the thesis investigates the inward licensing phenomenon within the context of new ventures. The main questions that new venture licensee has to address if it decides to undertake an inward licensing strategy, can be summarized as follows: 1) Is convenient for a new venture to choose, as initial technology strategy, the implementation of an inward licensing ? 2) Does this decision affect its survival probabilities? 3) Does the age, at which a new venture becomes a licensee, affect its innovative capabilities? Is it better to undertake a licensing-in strategy soon after founding or to postpone this strategy until the new venture has accumulated significant resources? The findings suggest that new ventures licensees survive less than their non-licensee counterparts; the survival rates are directly connected to the time taken by firms to reach the market;being engaged in licensing-in deals some years after its inception allows a new venture licensee to increase its subsequent capacity to produce innovations.

The 'parallel bridge' and its relevance to biotechnology new ventures

A firm's competitive strategy and innovation processes are strongly influenced by, and must be responsive to, its competitive environment. This is nowhere more strongly evident than in the high technology industries. In the present work, case studies of biotechnology new ventures are presented. These studies illustrate how an initial market entry strategy of parallel competition (through creative imitation) has enabled several biotechnology start-ups to reduce their mortality risk. We coin the term ''parallel bridge'' to describe this strategy. The parallel bridge provides early cash flows which support research and development and provide time for new ventures to develop core competencies, including a capacity to produce second and third horizon products that will sustain longer term competitiveness.

Antecedents and consequences of new product development and international new product rollout timeliness:an examination of mediating and moderating influences

The study examined the relationships between antecedents, timeliness in NPD and INPR, and consequences. A conceptual framework was tested using 232 new products from South Korean firms. The hypothesized relationships among the constructs in the model were evaluated by multiple regression and hierarchal regression analyses using SPSS 12 as well as by structural equation modelling (SEM) using SIMPLIS LISREL. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out using SIMPLIS LISREL. In the direct relationships, cross-functional linkages and marketing synergy exhibited a statistically significant effect on NPD timeliness. The results also supported the influences of the HQ-subsidiary/agent relationship and NPD timeliness on INPR timeliness as well as INPR timeliness on performance. In the mediating effect tests, marketing proficiency significantly accounts for the relationships between cross-functional linkages and NPD timeliness, between marketing synergy and NPD timeliness, and between the HQ-subsidiary/agent relationship and INPR timeliness. Technical proficiency also mediates the effect of the HQ-subsidiary/agent relationship on INPR timeliness. The influence of NPD timeliness on new product performance in target markets is attributed to INPR timeliness. As for the results of the external environmentals and standardization influences, competitive intensity moderates the relationship between NPD timeliness and new product performance. Technology change also moderates the relationship between cross-functional linkages and NPD timeliness and between timeliness in NPD and INPR and performance. Standardization has a moderating role on the relationship between NPD timeliness and INPR timeliness. This study presents the answers to research questions which concern what factors are predictors of criterion variables, how antecedents influence timeliness in NPD and INPR and when the direct relationships in the INPR process are strengthened.

Dynamics of effectuation and causation in technology-based new ventures (INTERACTIVE PAPER)

The creation of new ventures is a process characterized by the need to decide and take action in the face of uncertainty, and this is particularly so in the case of technology-based ventures. Effectuation theory (Sarasvathy, 2001) has advanced two possible approaches for making decisions while facing uncertainty in the entrepreneurial process. Causation logic is based on prediction and aims at lowering uncertainty, whereas effectuation logic is based on non-predictive action and aims at working with uncertainty. This study aims to generate more fine-grained insight in the dynamics of effectuation and causation over time. We address the following questions: (1) What patterns can be found in effectual and causal behaviour of technology-based new ventures over time? And (2) How may patterns in the dynamics of effectuation and causation be explained?

Explaining internationalisation of small to medium sized enterprises within the Queensland food and beverage industry

The prevalence of International New Ventures (INVs) has increased during the past twenty years. Nevertheless, to date there has been no general consensus within the literature on an explanation as to the rapid internationalisation of some firms. Do they follow a similar process to other firms that internationalise based on a more ‘measured’ incremental sequential process of internationalisation. This paper proposes and tests an innovation diffusion model of the internationalisation of small firm INVs and others by drawing on key innovation diffusion models from the literature. The results of this analysis indicate that the synthesised model of export adoption is effective in explaining the internationalisation process of INVs and other firms within the Queensland Food and Beverage Industry. Significantly, the features of the original innovation diffusion models developed in the consumer behaviour literature, which had limited examination within the internationalisation literature, were confirmed. This includes the ability of firms, or specifically decision-makers, to skip stages based on previous experience.

El resultado internacional de las nuevas empresas. Una visión relacional asociada a la orientación al mercado de la red

[ES] Este trabajo profundiza en el estudio de los factores que influyen en la competitividad internacional de las nuevas empresas internacionales y, en consecuencia, en su resultado internacional. Aunando las disciplinas del emprendedurismo y del marketing internacional, se trata de remarcar la importancia del conocimiento relacional a través de la influencia de la orientación al mercado de la red en los resultados internacionales logrados por estas empresas en base al efector mediador de las ventajas competitivas. Los resultados obtenidos del contraste de hipótesis, mediante modelos de ecuaciones estructurales y análisis multi-muestra, confirman que la orientación al mercado de la red resulta determinante en la obtención de resultados internacionales superiores por parte de las nuevas empresas. Esta influencia se produce de forma indirecta a partir del efecto mediador de las ventajas competitivas en diferenciación y costes desarrolladas por las mismas. Este estudio extiende la investigación pasada en torno al emprendedurismo internacional, incluyendo nuevas aportaciones propias de la disciplina del marketing respecto a los antecedentes de la competitividad y los resultados de las nuevas empresas internacionales en los mercados exteriores. Además, los resultados obtenidos animan a emprendedores en el contexto internacional a considerar el valor explícito de otros factores distintos al conocimiento experiencial, que la empresa adquiere de forma gradual conforme se incrementa su experiencia en el mercado exterior, para darse cuenta del valor potencial que el conocimiento relacional asociado a la orientación al mercado de la red tiene como antecedente para la consecución de ventajas competitivas en el mercado internacional.

Utilidad de la relación estratégica comunitaria y el marketing en los mercados internacionales

Dentro de este trabajo de investigación se quiere profundizar en la teoría que abarca la relación estratégica comunitaria en los mercados internacionales donde se quiere resaltar si ha habido investigaciones alrededor de este tema y si el aporte que se está dando en esta investigación realmente si es información nueva que se está investigando. Se quiere enfocar la investigación hacia como las empresas están realizando la penetración de mercados internacionales pensando en la comunidad en la que están ingresando, sus costumbres, creencias y aspectos sociales.