Browsing by Author "Gnyawali, Devi R."
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- Adoption of Bamboo in Ghana's Forest Products Industry: An Investigation of the Principal Exporters and InstitutionsBonsi, Richard (Virginia Tech, 2009-04-22)This study sought to determine the feasibility of introducing bamboo as a raw material to supplement the dwindling stock of traditional timber species for Ghana's forest products industry. First, the CEOs of the leading exporters of tertiary and panel products in the industry were canvassed to assess the current situation. Using descriptive statistics, it was discovered that the companies studied consume logs 12% in excess of the annual allowable timber harvest for the whole industry. There has been a drop in raw material availability and a 30% increase in raw material costs in the past five years. Harvest of lesser-used species in place of traditional species has also increased. Smaller companies have lost customers and are more restrained in raw material procurement. Next, barriers to the adoption of bamboo as a raw material perceived by the CEOs and institutional heads were identified. The major barriers perceived by CEOs include lack of information (e.g., on bamboo plantation management, products, processing, machines and markets) and lack of capital for investment. Institutions lack adequate information about bamboo technology and policy; they have research needs, (e.g., training, funding, laboratory equipment) and collaboration from all stakeholders. Institutions have done little to promote bamboo. Smaller companies were found to be more innovative in product development than larger companies. Companies located in the Ashanti region show higher propensity to engage in process innovation and product development. Companies appear to be receptive to initiatives that encourage bamboo adoption. In the current situation, few companies are willing to adopt bamboo but most companies are ready to adopt in the future if the existing barriers are mitigated. In the current situation, it is difficult for the industry to adopt bamboo until the government officially specifies roles for institutions and other stakeholders to make a compelling case for bamboo. Suggestions made for policymaking and change management include strategies for the creation of awareness, desire and knowledge for bamboo. Others include providing resources to enhance the ability of companies and institutions to adopt or promote bamboo, and reinforcing the change from timber to bamboo.
- Building an entrepreneurship education program in a technology-rich environment: Virginia Tech’s entrepreneurship ecosystemTseng, Chien-Chi; Townsend, David M.; Poff, Ron; Gnyawali, Devi R. (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025-01-01)In recent years, the entrepreneurship ecosystem at Virginia Tech has rapidly evolved into one of the leading global university entrepreneurship programs. Through an integrated mix of curricular and co-curricular programs and initiatives, Virginia Tech is leading the way in building a world-class entrepreneurship ecosystem throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to serve the students, faculty and staff, Commonwealth citizens, and the entrepreneurship community at large. Building on the historic strengths as a pre-eminent STEM-focused institution, Virginia Tech’s comprehensive ecosystem encompasses a unique blend of academic courses and programs, student experiential learning, and a broader support system to advance technology commercialization and entrepreneurship efforts. Dedicated to entrepreneurship education excellence, Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge acquisition and generation by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to prepare students to be leaders and problem-solvers. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and a leading research institution, Virginia Tech’s entrepreneurship ecosystem spans multiple campuses across the Commonwealth and is anchored by our primary campus in Blacksburg, VA. These innovative and comprehensive efforts and demonstrated success have led to Virginia Tech’s winning the National Model Program Award for entrepreneurship education from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship in 2022.
- The Business Case for CSR in the Hospitality ContextRhou, Yinyoung (Virginia Tech, 2019-01-18)In this dissertation, including three papers, I examine the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the hospitality industry. The first paper provides a systematic review of the business case for CSR based on 170 articles published in leading hospitality journals. The review paper serves as a literature review of this dissertation, leading to the second and third papers. In the second paper, I examine CSR as a strategic tool to offset corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) in the hospitality industry. Findings indicate sector differences within the hospitality industry. The third paper examines corporate philanthropy, focusing on the notion of strategic philanthropy. Results indicate the predominance of strategic philanthropy especially in hospitality companies, compared to companies in other industries. Findings of the dissertation as a whole suggest the need for hospitality-specific business case for CSR. In practical terms, this dissertation provides better informed decisions for hospitality mangers in terms of using CSR as a corporate strategy to achieve competitive advantages in the highly competitive industry.
- Corporate Governance and Strategic Behavior: A Study of Acquisitions and CEO Compensation Practices of Publicly-Owned and Family-Controlled Firms in S&P 500Singal, Manisha (Virginia Tech, 2008-04-08)Recent research has suggested that interest alignment, i.e., the degree to which members of an organization are motivated to behave in line with organizational goals, is a source of competitive advantage that can generate rents for the firm (Gottschlag and Zollo, 2007). Drawing on agency theory, this dissertation tests whether the interest alignment premise manifests itself differently in the strategic behavior of family-controlled firms when compared to their nonfamily peers. In particular, for firms in the S&P 500, I evaluate the results of two important strategic policies; mergers and acquisitions, as well as CEO compensation practices. In studying acquisitions made by family and nonfamily firms in the S&P 500 index from 1992-2006, I find that family firms are more careful when embarking on actions leading to mergers than non-family firms, as evidenced by their selection of smaller targets and targets who are in related businesses. I also find that there is a preponderance of cash purchases by family firms that does not vary with market movements and that completion times for merger transactions are shorter than for non family firms. The care and concern with which family-controlled firms choose their "mates" translates into higher stock returns when compared with non-family firms. Overall, I believe that family-controlled firms derive value from their merger and acquisition strategy. With regard to CEO compensation practices, I find that family firms provide strong incentives to the CEO for superior performance but pay significantly lower than nonfamily firms in terms of both salary and stock-based pay. The pay-for-performance sensitivity between annual stock returns and total compensation is significantly greater for family firms in general, and for family CEOs when compared with compensation of CEOs in nonfamily firms. The pay-for-performance sensitivity is in turn positively related to firm performance, suggesting that firms with greater pay-for-performance sensitivity (family controlled firms) also perform better. The analyses in my thesis thus illustrate that family-controlled firms and non-family firms in the S&P 500 differ in their strategic decision-making. It would be fair to say that family firms have longer investment horizons and give deliberate thought to expending resources whether for acquisitions or for CEO pay, and may suffer lower agency costs than nonfamily firms due to family governance (and public monitoring) which may lead to their relative superior performance. This dissertation finds that each acquisition made by a family controlled firm generates an extra return of 0.50% when compared with a nonfamily firm, and family controlled firms earn 0.50% every year directly attributable to pay-for-performance sensitivity. The study thus underlines and reiterates the importance of instilling the long-term view in the management of all firms, lowering agency costs, and aligning the interests of managers with those of stockholders for superior financial performance
- The Effects of Coopetition and Coopetition Capability on Firm Innovation PerformancePark, Byung-Jin Robert (Virginia Tech, 2011-05-11)This dissertation is motivated by two research questions: 1) to what extent does coopetition impact firm innovation performance? and 2) to what extent does a firm's coopetition capability influence the relationship between coopetition and firm innovation performance? Despite the popularity of coopetition in both the academic and business arenas, empirical studies on the effects of coopetition on firm innovation performance are rare. With the dynamic and paradoxical nature of coopetition, the role of a firm's specific capability to manage coopetition (i.e., coopetition capability) is an important issue that has remained under-researched in the literature. In an endeavor to contribute to the coopetition literature in the context of technological innovation, both theoretical and methodological improvements were pursued for this dissertation. From a theoretical perspective, I conceptualize coopetition as composed of three components: 1) competition between partners, 2) cooperation between partners, and 3) the interplay between competition and cooperation. It is argued that the balance between competition and cooperation is essential to generate greater innovation performance in the paradoxical relationship. Further, I newly conceptualize coopetition-based innovation that is composed of three components: 1) joint innovation, 2) innovation through knowledge application, and 3) innovation in the partner's domains. Methodologically, I measure coopetition as a continuous variable. Using both a longitudinal research design in the semiconductor industry and an exemplar case study of coopetition, I examine the effects of coopetition and coopetition capability on coopetition-based innovation. To represent coopetition, I employed four combinations with two types of competition (technology competition and market competition) and two types of cooperation (type strength of a focal alliance and tie strength between partners). The empirical evidence indicates that the balance between competition and cooperation at both the dyadic and portfolio levels increases the potential of firms to generate greater innovation performance from coopetition. This study demonstrates that firms with coopetition capabilities can manage coopetition and create greater common value with a partner and appropriate more value from the dynamic and paradoxical relationship. The research findings also have important managerial implications.
- The Effects of Firm Experience and Relational Resources on Firm Product Development CapabilitiesThornblad, David Bengt (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-16)Given that the focus of strategic management research is understanding the determinants of firm performance, and that product development capabilities have been shown to influence firm performance, the research question this dissertation attempts to answer is: what factors influence a firm's product development capabilities? Building on the resource based view and evolutionary theory, this dissertation proposes that firms leverage knowledge generating resources to modify or develop their routines. Firm level routines are theorized to influence the capabilities of the firm. This dissertation focuses on two firm-level product development capabilities: effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness refers to a firm's ability to develop desirable products and efficiency refers to the firm's ability to develop those products quickly. The knowledge generating resources this dissertation examines is the firm's prior experience in product development and the firm's relational resources pertinent to product development. Specifically, this dissertation develops theory on four types of experience: market niche, component technology, platform technology, and general product development. Additionally, theory is developed regarding the effects of platform relational resources, as well as the breadth and depth of co-developers a firm utilizes in the development of their products. Using the videogame development industry as the empirical context, few hypothesized relationships are statistically or substantively significant. Prior experience with component technologies lowered the effectiveness of a firm' product development capabilities, but were found to increase efficiency. In addition, older firms tended to create more desirable products despite controlling for the four types of experience which may suggest that the age of the firm contributes something to the firm's ability to create desirable products beyond specific types of experience. This dissertation makes contributions to the theory on how capabilities are developed and enhanced by introducing mechanisms regarding how firms can leverage knowledge generating resources to improve their capabilities. More specifically, this dissertation provides contributes to the product development literature as well as the literature on how experience and relational resources influence a firm's product development capabilities.
- The Effects of Human Capital and Voluntary Human Capital Disclosures on Investors' Decision-Making and Assessments of Firm ValueSaucedo, Gabriel D. (Virginia Tech, 2014-04-04)A common cliché found in annual reports is "our employees are our most important, valuable asset." While many companies claim human capital is an important asset and source of valuable earnings, there is nary a human asset found in financial statements. This research paper investigates the usefulness and importance of voluntary human capital disclosures. The 2 X 2 X 2 experiment manipulates firm financial performance, non-GAAP voluntary disclosures, and disclosure attestation to identify the extent to which human capital disclosures influence investor decision-making related to assessments of management credibility and firm value. The research described in this dissertation also investigates the interactive effects of auditor attestation on voluntary disclosure. The primary hypothesis examines whether firms providing strong human capital disclosures will have higher credibility ratings and stock price associations than firms not providing such disclosures. I find that when presented with human capital metrics, investors' assessments of credibility and firm stock price are attenuated by human capital disclosures, especially during periods of strong financial performance. Results also suggest investors key in on both non-financial and financial human capital metrics. Based on cognitive processing time, analyses indicate investors spend more time processing strong human capital disclosures. Another important hypothesis examines if firms receiving attestation services over voluntary human capital disclosures will have higher credibility ratings than firms not receiving such services. I find some evidence investors cognitively acknowledge the presence of auditor attestation reports when they are presented, and both credibility and stock price assessments are impacted by attestation services. Overall, the original research described here makes a contribution to the existing literature by providing unique insight as to how human capital information is viewed by investors. Current reporting standards focus on financial assets, physical assets, and technological/intellectual property. This can result in significant transparency issues when publicly traded firms fail to adequately disclose human capital risks. Organizations undoubtedly have substantial unreported human capital benefits and risks, which can have a potentially significant market valuation impact. The research conducted and reported in this paper illuminates the potential benefits of human capital disclosures to both internal and external firm stakeholders.
- Explaining the Relationship Between the HR System and Firm Performance: a Test of the Strategic HRM FrameworkHerdman, Andrew Orr (Virginia Tech, 2008-01-16)Recent meta-analytic treatments of the Strategic Human Resource Management literature suggest a relationship between the adoption of "high-commitment" HR practices and organization level performance outcomes (Combs, Lui, Hall & Ketchen, 2006). However, there is considerable variability in the manner in which the HR system construct is conceptualized and measured (Arthur & Boyles, 2007; Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Further, relative little attention has been given to how these systems of HR practices operate to influence organizational outcomes (Ostroff & Bowen, 2000). Drawing on the extant SHRM literature, the present study attempts to lend clarity to these issues by specifying and assessing a number of unique measures of the HR system. Several attitudinal, motivation and behavioral employee outcomes are also identified and assessed as possible mediators between the HR system measures and organizational outcomes. An integrated model proposing relationships both among these measures and their effects on various organizational outcomes is offered and tested. Data obtained from 202 hotel locations provided mixed support for the proposed model of relationships. However, results generally support the relationships between measures of the HR System and important organizational outcomes. Findings also reinforce the utility of expanding the measurement of the HR system beyond the formally established HR programs, the need to better understand intra-organizational variability in HR systems along functional lines and the challenges and opportunities inherent in multi-respondent designs. Finally, the failure to demonstrate the mediating role of the specified human capital characteristics in HR's relationship with firm performance presents a continued challenge to future research to effectively model this relationship.
- An exploration of the role of the construct of control in expansion strategy of hotel chains: A multiple-case studyGhorbal-Blal, Ines (Virginia Tech, 2008-03-17)The purpose of this study is to explore the management of expansion strategy in the hotel industry using the control approach as presented in the literature of organizational theory. This integration illustrates that the management of risk in expansion strategy is intertwined with control. The question “How does control intervene in the management of risk in expansion strategy?” was the operationalization of the overarching question of strategy and structure. The answers to this question are summarized in a framework and four propositions. The contribution of this work to academia is threefold. First, this work provides a detailed, theories-driven documentation about how expansion strategies are conducted in the international hotel context. Second, this research integrates three different fields of research and directs to multiple new research tracks in both fields of strategic management and organization theory. Third, this study offers a new approach to measure the alignment between strategy and structure. From a managerial standpoint, this research offers guidance for the comprehension of the determinants of risk in the expansion strategy for international hotel chains.
- Friends or Neighbors? The Effects of Inter-firm Networks and Clusters on Technological Innovations in the U.S. Semiconductor IndustrySrivastava, Manish Kumar (Virginia Tech, 2007-09-26)This dissertation is motivated by an overarching research question: How do firms leverage external resources residing in their ego network (portfolio of alliances) and their clusters in order to innovate in a sustained manner? Research suggests that firms often struggle and falter in their innovation efforts. However, past research has paid little systematic attention on why firms struggle in their innovation efforts. Further, though network and clusters—the key sources of external resources—may overlap in several ways, the extant literature has not examined their joint effect on a firm's technological innovation. In this dissertation, using a longitudinal research design I examine how the characteristics of a firm's ego network and of its cluster independently and jointly impact its patent output in the U.S. semiconductor industry. The research provides a framework showing how networks and clusters may work in tandem in helping a firm overcome innovation barriers. The study demonstrates how firms can leverage network and cluster resources. The empirical evidence indicates that the efficacy of cluster resources increases in the presence of network ties within the cluster. It also shows that firms can mobilize resources of distant clusters using their network ties. The study further demonstrates that resource-rich firms leverage networks resources more effectively than the resource-deficient firms do while resource-deficient firms leverage cluster resources more effectively than the resource-rich firms do. The dissertation makes important theoretical and empirical contributions to alliance, network, cluster, and innovation literatures. The research findings also have important managerial implications.
- Heterogeneous Entrepreneurial Action: A Knowledge Problem ApproachManocha, Parul (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-14)
- How Frontline Managers Implement, and Employees Experience, Commitment HR Practices: The Roles of Individual Attributional Process and Self-Transcendence ValuesYang, Jae Wan (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-18)The finding of a positive relationship between a set of well-configured commitment human resources practices and performance outcomes at multiple levels of an organization is a well-documented in the strategic human resource management (HRM) literature (e.g., Combs, Lui, Hall, and Ketchen, 2006; Kehoe and Wright, 2013). However, several recent empirical studies (e.g., Liao, Toya, Lepak, and Hong, 2009) find a significant gap between the HR practices organizations report they use and the HR practices employees report they experienced. These more recent findings call into question the extent to which formal HR programs reported by organizational leaders are actually understood and implemented by lower level managers. To the extent that formal HR programs are not fully implemented as intended suggests many organizations may not be getting the full benefits from their HR program investments. The present study addresses this issue by focusing on the problem of HR practices implementation. Drawing on attribution theory, I examine how frontline managers (FLMs) and employees recognize, interpret, and react to commitment HR practices adopted by their organization. Additionally, I tested the influence of the self-transcendence values of FLMs and employees on their attributional processes. In doing so, three models (frontline manager, employee, and multi-level models) were proposed and the hypotheses based on these models were tested. Data collected from 195 employees nested in 61 workgroups provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships. In the frontline manager, tests of hypotheses revealed that FLMs' awareness of commitment HR programs affected their commitment HR attributions and implementation of commitment HR practices. The employee model showed that employees' awareness of commitment HR practices influenced their commitment HR attributions and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). However self-transcendence was not a significant moderator in both models. Finally, the multi-level model suggested that FLMs' implementation of commitment HR practices is a significant predictor of employees' commitment HR attributions. The findings contribute to the strategic HRM literature by demonstrating how organizations can implement commitment HR practices to attain unrealized potential benefits of commitment HR practices. The failure to demonstrate the moderating effect of self-transcendence values on attributional process of commitment HR practices presents a continued challenge for future research.
- The Impact of Varied Knowledge on Innovation and the Fate of OrganizationsAsgari, Elham (Virginia Tech, 2019-08-02)In my dissertation, I examine varied types of knowledge and how they contribute to innovation generation and selection at both the firm and the industry level using the emerging industry context of small satellites. My research is divided into three papers. In Paper One, I take a supply-demand perspective and examine how suppliers of technology—with their unique knowledge of science and technology—and users of technology—with their unique knowledge of demand—contribute to innovation generation and selection over the industry lifecycle. Results show that the contributions of suppliers and users vary based on unique aspects of innovation, such as novelty, breadth, and coherence – and also over the industry life cycle. In Paper Two, I study how firms overcome science-business tension in their pursuit of novel innovation. I examine unique aspects of knowledge: scientists' business knowledge and CEOs' scientific knowledge. I show that CEOs' scientific knowledge is an important driver of firms' novel pursuits and that this impact is higher when scientists do not have business knowledge. In the third paper, I further examine how scientists with high technological and scientific knowledge—i.e., star scientists—impact firm innovation generation and selection. With a focus on explorative and exploitative innovation, I develop theory on the boundary conditions of stars' impact on firm level outcomes. I propose that individual level contingencies—i.e., stage of employment—and organizational level contingencies—explorative or exploitative innovation—both facilitate and hinder stars' impact on firms' innovative pursuits.
- An international ambidexterity model to understand new venture internationalization and growthJi, Fiona Xiaoying (Virginia Tech, 2011-08-26)Research in the international management literature has traditionally studied internationalization processes from an exploitation perspective. This exploitation-focused argument demonstrates an incremental process of international expansion with the internationalization of mature multinational corporations (MNCs). However, the situation is different for international new ventures, which may not have sufficient resources and economies of scale in their domestic countries before starting operations in other countries. After initial internationalization at a young age, international new ventures might choose to go to similar foreign markets to leverage and exploit existing knowledge for growth or they might continue experimenting with less related foreign markets. In this study, I propose that international new ventures benefit from using an ambidextrous strategy for long-term performance employing both exploitation and exploration. I use both traditional international management literature and international entrepreneur studies to develop the concept of international ambidexterity. I argue that new ventures are able to develop such a capability, defined as the capability to successfully balance international exploitation and exploration activities. This capability is founded on new ventures' initial activities but needs to be further developed and refined through international operations with both incremental and radical approaches. I also propose that the relationship between international ambidexterity and new venture growth is positively moderated by these firms' subsequent activities to explore technological knowledge. In order to theoretically develop and empirically test the concept of the international ambidexterity, I introduce arguments that support certain antecedents to developing this capability. Results from my analyses show that the benefits associated with international exploration through early internationalization are realized when a firm continues further commitment to exploitation capabilities so they can accomplish ambidexterity learning from narrower scope of international expansion. Additionally, domestic alliances and foreign alliances show significant relationships with new venture's international exploration. Therefore, inter-organizational learning can link to the social capital and network perspectives in international entrepreneurship research; mimetic learning can help investigating the social aspects of international entrepreneurship studies. Further, new ventures should be encouraged to build inter-organizational networks, domestically and internationally to pursue their growth.
- Investigating Shareholder Social Activism From an Issue-Selling Perspective—Issues, Strategies, and SuccessZhao, Xiaoping (Virginia Tech, 2013-10-08)Building on the logic of issue selling, my dissertation explores the micro-processes of shareholder social activism through which shareholders interact with targeted firms and also addresses which micro-processes could affect the effectiveness and the success of shareholder social activism. To do this, my dissertation develops a theory with respect to the approaches of linguistically framing the contents of and of presenting shareholder social activism. Based on a qualitative (descriptive) analysis on 1,612 shareholder social proposals, my dissertation identifies six packaging strategies that are used by the proponents to linguistically frame the contents of their proposals and two selling strategies used by the proponents to present their proposals. Subsequently, a quantitative analysis demonstrates that the effectiveness of shareholder social proposals would be largely determined by the joint effects of opportunity framing, threat framing, coalition building, and repeated submitting and that other packaging strategies would have little unique contribution to the effectiveness and the success of shareholder social activism. I argue that my dissertation would make contributions to the understanding of shareholder social activism and also offer some theoretical considerations for future studies on issue selling, although my dissertation might not directly contribute to the body of work of issue selling.
- An Investigation of NGO-Government Partnerships for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS and Malaria in the Maritime Region of TogoAleyao, Binioube (Virginia Tech, 2016-07-26)In recent decades, governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), both national and international, have employed various approaches to improve socio-economic conditions in Africa. Influenced by neo-liberalism, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are now widely used to deliver social programs and services integral to those efforts. This study examines a sample of such collaborations addressing HIV/AIDS and malaria in Togo's Maritime Region. The analysis focuses on relationship dynamics—governance structure, communication, trust levels, and decision making—to gauge partnership effectiveness in delivering health services, as perceived by selected government and NGO representatives. I interviewed leaders from government agencies and NGOs, national and international—all experienced in such collaborations. They described partnership dynamics, issues impeding partnership success and how those concerns might be addressed. This is the first investigation of public-private health-related partnerships in any Togolese region. The analysis contributes empirically to the broader literature concerning the employment by developing nations of cross-sector collaboration for health service delivery. In Togo, national and international NGOs must be granted legal identity, formal governmental acknowledgement under a national regulatory statute, in a process fraught with obstacles. The study concludes that the Togolese government should systematically develop a framework for guiding its partnerships with NGOs, including ways to build mutual trust among those participating in them. Such action would foster mutual engagement in policy decisions, while also honoring the government's rightful stance as final arbiter. Neither of these steps can occur without more open, effective communication among all involved. The study offers recommendations for helping all parties address reported concerns about communication and trust. In characterizing the dynamics of these partnerships, the study enriches our understanding of the challenges confronting the government, NGOs and civil society in Togo.
- Investigation of Research Commercialization at a University: A Case StudyZhou, Yu (Virginia Tech, 2015-05-06)With the increase of awareness and focus on university research commercialization, much research had been conducted to investigate this subject. It was revealed that because universities were not traditionally built to serve the purpose of commercialization, many obstacles existed in the path of university research commercialization. Historically, research had largely focused on identifying critical factors that impacted the performance of commercialization. However, it was not clear how those findings could be systematically incorporated into the commercialization improvement plan of individual cases. This research intended to fill this gap and provide a framework that could be used by most universities to access and improve their research commercialization process. A case study of a U.S. land-grant university was conducted and a narrative approach was mainly used as the method of data analysis. Under the scope of a single-case study, four sub-studies were conducted to address the goals of this research. First, a framework was developed that incorporated theories of existing research and the value stream map of lean management. Interviews with the intellectual property office and faculty were conducted to determine if the theoretical framework was applicable. It was found that the framework fitted well with the current process of university research commercialization. After that, a survey that covered a sample size of 1110 researchers at the targeted university was conducted to investigate the importance of different resources at different stages of the process. Resources that were under investigation were grouped into four categories: technical, human, social, and financial resources. This research identified the most important resources for research commercialization were industrial connections (social resource) and assistance from the intellectual property (IP) office (human resource), with industrial connections playing a more importance role at the beginning of the process and the IP office from the stage of patent application. To assess organizational characteristics of the targeted university, interviews were conducted with 22 faculty, three representatives from the administration, one representative from the intellectual property office, and one representative from an external organization. Six criteria derived from previous research were used to guide the assessment: (1) expenditures on research and development (RandD), (2) intellectual property policy, (3) research field, (4) key individuals, (5) commitment to innovation, and (6) networking with external relations. It was found that the targeted university had strong evidence of the advantages of expenditures on RandD and research field, however, it was relatively weak in the other four characteristics. The last part of the research involved interviews with two companies for the purpose of developing a best practice for research commercialization with the examples from the industry. Recommendations to improve targeted university's research commercialization were developed based on findings of the research.
- Knowledge Problems and Entrepreneurial StrategyJin, Ju hyeong (Virginia Tech, 2023-05-01)Entrepreneurs formulate and implement strategies to tackle different knowledge problems over the entrepreneurial journey. This dissertation systematically disentangled and compared the value of two strategic decision logics that have been tested little in the extant entrepreneurship literature: the strategic decision logic that leverages speed advantages versus the logic that leverages comprehensive advantages. Using a pseudo-NK simulation method first in the management and entrepreneurship fields, the comparative effectiveness of new product development strategies that leverage speed (e.g., the lean method [paper one] and a modular strategy [paper two]) versus comprehensiveness (e.g., a more comprehensive method [paper one] and a parallel strategy [paper two]) was tested in the first and second essays of the dissertation. In the third essay, I systematically reviewed, analyzed, and disentangled two existing corporate strategy constructs of decision speed and decision comprehensiveness by investigating different ways these decision strategies could be effective within entrepreneurship. I also used a multilevel meta-analysis to synthesize and test the contingent role of decision speed and decision comprehensiveness in different entrepreneurial decision contexts. That is, I found that the value of these two entrepreneurial strategies would be contingent upon the external and internal conditions of ventures. Overall, this dissertation shows that strategies that leverage comprehensiveness might even be more effective in entrepreneurship than the strategies that leverage speed advantages, depending on the internal and external decision contexts.
- A Model of Non-Routine Organizational Search: Broadcast Search as an Alternative Knowledge-Sourcing Mechanism in the Pharmaceutical IndustryZeitzmann, Hanko Kalle (Virginia Tech, 2013-01-07)Combining Cyert and March's (1963) model of search with foundational concepts from evolutionary theory (Nelson & Winter, 1982), this dissertation scrutinizes the expansion of search and develops a refined framework for organizational search behavior. Special emphasis is put on the aspect of search in organizationally vulnerable areas (Cyert & March, 1963). Considering pressure to innovate as a potential driver, the dissertation develops a conceptual model based on open innovation (Chesbrough, 2003a). Three pre-studies and two main studies illuminate broadcast search in the pharmaceutical industry and test the theoretical model. The pre-studies elucidate the use of broadcast search in the pharmaceutical industry from various angles. One investigation uses public data from an intermediary to test for the uniqueness of pharma-related broadcast search. Findings indicate that pharma-related challenges are frequented less by solvers. Another pre-study administered surveys to managers from pharmaceutical firms interested in open innovation for R&D. Results indicate alignment between the academic literature and practice. The tenor of the pre-studies is that broadcast search in the pharmaceutical industry deserves legitimate consideration. Also, anecdotal evidence supports the notion that broadcast search, at current, is used after other attempts have failed"as a search mechanism at the margin. The two main studies test the theoretically developed ideas. Building on prior work, study 1 singles out the breadth of the knowledge base as the defining factor for forming strategic knowledge groups. Study 2 supports the notion that innovation pressure is associated with changes in organizational search behavior. Since study 2 does not find a direct link between innovation pressure and broadcast search engagement, a post-hoc analysis follows which combines study 1 findings with study 2 data. Results support the idea that a broad knowledge base precedes broadcast search. Theory development benefits from this dissertation by emphasizing on a better understanding of organizational search processes and setting a foundation for future investigations. For practitioners the dissertation cautions of blind adoption of broadcast search while at the same time pointing to its potential. Having supplemental capabilities becomes crucial. The nature of these capabilities requires further scientific investigation.
- Motivations and Outcomes of Firms' Leveraging of Alliance KnowledgeZhou, Shihao (Virginia Tech, 2017-02-22)Nowadays, firms increasingly rely on strategic alliances to reach out for unique technological knowledge that firms cannot develop internally. However, in previous literature, we find inconsistent findings regarding the drivers and outcomes of a firm's leverage of alliance partners' technological knowledge. In this dissertation, I consider opposite propositions in prior studies simultaneously and examine two research questions: 1) what motivates a firm to search technological knowledge from alliance partners? And 2) how configurations of alliance knowledge and alliance network affect firm innovation? I argue that alliance knowledge search motivation is determined by the allocation of managerial attention to local domains and distant domains. While distant attention motives alliance knowledge search, local attention suppresses the motivation. I hypothesize that innovation performance below the aspiration level intensifies both local and distant attentions and has an inverted U-shaped relationship with alliance knowledge search intensity. This curvilinear relationship is moderated by the focal firm's knowledge stock size since firms with large knowledge stock are more likely to develop distant attention in the presence of poor innovation performance. I further argue that exploration and exploitation play key roles in the configurations of both alliance knowledge and alliance network. Alliance knowledge leveraging can contribute more to firm innovation, if the firm can establish a balance between exploration and exploitation. I propose that balancing exploration and exploitation within a single domain (e.g., search moderately explorative alliance knowledge) generates great managerial costs. However, firms can balance exploration and exploitation across domains: they can leverage explorative knowledge through exploitative alliances, such as repeated partnerships and strong ties. I test related hypotheses using longitudinal data from the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry. Results show that: 1) innovation performance below the aspiration level has an inverted U-shaped relationship with alliance knowledge search, demonstrating that both distant and local attention play important roles in developing the motivation for alliance knowledge search; 2) increasing knowledge stock size increases both positive and negative effects of innovation performance below aspiration; 3) technological distance of searched alliance knowledge has a linear negative effect on firm innovation; and 4) leveraging explorative knowledge from repeated partnership, but not strong ties, leads to superior innovation performance, supporting the idea of establishing the balance across domains. The findings make important contributions to alliance knowledge leveraging, aspiration, and exploration-exploitation literatures. The managerial implications of the study are also discussed.