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on Economics of Strategic Management |
| By: | Jacqueline Senker (SPRU, University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews how research collaborations between dedicated biotechnology firms and multinational pharmaceutical companies have changed over the past 25 years. A discussion of the impact that developments in the biotechnology have had on the process of pharmaceutical R&D will set the context for reviewing the various theoretical approaches used to analyse and understand these alliances, identifying changes in the nature of alliances over time and indicating the future in store for dedicated biotechnology firms. |
| Keywords: | biotechnology, dedicated biotechnology firms, pharmaceuticals sector, post-genome era, research alliances |
| JEL: | O33 I10 D85 |
| Date: | 2006–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:137&r=cse |
| By: | M. Ayhan Kose; Christopher Otrok; Charles H. Whiteman |
| Keywords: | Business cycles , Globalization , Group of Seven , Economic models , |
| Date: | 2005–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:05/211&r=cse |
| By: | Peter Abelson (Department of Economics, Macquarie University) |
| Abstract: | The paper starts with a brief introduction to the main principles of outsourcing and a description of the recent history of outsourcing in the two largest states, New South Wales and Victoria. The main part of the paper then describes seven case studies which exemplify the process and possible outcomes of outsourcing. The case studies are not randomly selected. Indeed reported results of outsourcing are likely to be biased towards success stories because governments usually suppress poor results. Consistent with other studies, in five of the reported case studies, outsourcing cut costs or raised the quality of services, or both. These examples indicate that there are significant potential gains from outsourcing. However, the potential gains are not always achieved. To achieve these gains, contracting out often requires significant structural reform of an organization and always requires detailed planning and ongoing agency commitment. As the other two case studies show, with poor management contracting-out can produce expensive outcomes or major service failures. |
| JEL: | H11 |
| Date: | 2005–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mac:wpaper:0503&r=cse |
| By: | Stéphane Lhuillery (Chaire en Economie et Management de l'Innovation, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | Surveyed empirical studies on the influence of corporate governance on innovation tend to focus on specific dimensions of shareholders or boards. Their findings are mixed and inconclusive. We thus present a very recent number of papers that depart from board or shareholders’ characteristics, to focus on governance practices. Our empirical contribution uses a set of ratings given by experts and focuses on corporate governance practices with a sample of 6623 firms belonging to 110 large French groups. The relation between governance practices and R&D intensity, implementing different indexes and methods in order to improve the robustness of our results, is investigated in cross-section. We find that firms with governance practices that are shaped in order to defend shareholders’ rights are more R&D intensive. The highest the shareholder is taken into consideration by managers, the highest the R&D intensity will be. A second result suggests more surprisingly that the effect is non linear: whether the firms take care of their shareholders seriously or moderately has no differentiated impact on R&D expenditure. However, firms with fewer democratic practices are more likely to be less R&D intensive. This paper also investigates so called deficiencies in shareholder protection in Continental European systems compared to Anglo-Saxon systems. A significant difference in R&D intensity is found between French group listed only in France and French groups listed in New-York or London. The last result suggests that the impact of national systems of corporate governance on R&D and innovation may be strong; reinforcing the impact on R&D of the different applied governance practices. Further investigations show, however, that it is very difficult to identify what the best governance practices are, regarding the R&D expenditures. Provisions implemented at the board level are however found positively related to R&D intensity. Finally, our results also suggest that sample selection matters in this kind of empirical literature. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance, R&D, innovation, provisions |
| JEL: | O31 O32 G31 G32 |
| Date: | 2006–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cmi:wpaper:cemi-report-2006-006&r=cse |
| By: | Professor George M Constantinides (University of Chicago) |
| Date: | 2005–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mmf:mmfc05:49&r=cse |
| By: | Simona Iammarino (SPRU, University of Sussex); Philip McCann (University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the relationship between location patterns, innovation processes and industrial clusters. In order to do this we extend a transactions costs-based classification of industrial clusters into a knowledge-based taxonomy of clusters, along the lines suggested by a critical revision of the main assumptions underlying most of the existing literature on spatially defined clusters. Our arguments show that the transactions costs approach and the innovation and technological change framework are broadly consistent, and that real insights into the microfoundations, nature, and evolution of clusters can be provided by these classification systems. |
| Keywords: | industrial clusters, firm location, innovation processes, cluster classification |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R3 D8 |
| Date: | 2006–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:138&r=cse |
| By: | Michele Moretto; Gianpaolo Rossini |
| Abstract: | From 1997 to 2001 we observe in the Usa a faster growth in the number of Nonemploye firms (NF) vis à vis Employer firms (EF). The diverse speed of net entry may be due to particular internal organisation of the two types of firms and the effect that this has on the reactions to market uncertainty. However, the set of internal organizations of firms is larger than that made up simply by EFs and NFs, in particular among newborn firms, since we observe corporate start-ups with employees, firms owned and managed by their founders who are simultaneously the employees and, finally, non corporate enterprises. The second class of firms mostly belongs to the category of NFs, according to US nomenclature, while non corporate firms may belong to either category. Our curiosity is attracted by different entry patterns of NFs and EFs and our aim is to interpret them. According to recent literature, firms carry out an irreversible investment, such as entry, only if market prices are strictly larger than average total costs (Marshallian point). However, the trigger price that makes firms become active is affected by institutional rules, the existence of profit sharing, efficiency wages, exit options - i.e. partial reversibility - financial constraints. Then, the internal organization of a newborn firm may make the difference. In a continuous time stochastic environment, where firms bear a sunk cost, we model entry as a growth option. On the trace of distinct objective functions we show that NFs and EFs have specific entry patterns in terms of output price and/or size. Why? Simply because they react in diverse fashions to market price volatility. In this sense we are able to show that, in most cases, the NF is locally less risky. This makes the NF better suited to enter under conditions of higher volatility. This exactly corresponds to what happened during the years between 1997-2001. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubs:wpaper:ubs0409&r=cse |
| By: | Rodriguez, Miguel A. (IESE Business School); Ponti, Franc (EADA); Ayuso, Silvia (IESE Business School) |
| Abstract: | Nowadays, many companies striving for sustainability have developed new and effective communication channels with their stakeholders and, at the same time, successful innovation strategies. However, stakeholder engagement and innovation tend to be managed as parallel rather than interconnected activities within companies, and any link between them seems to be informal and tacit. The aim of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of how companies' relationship with the environment can be harnessed for sustainable innovation. Given the scant experience of companies linking stakeholder dialogue and sustainable innovation, we decided to adopt an original and innovative research method based on gathering a group of managers from different companies and stimulating their imagination using creativity techniques. In this paper, we first describe the creative research method we used to explore how businesses can integrate stakeholder insights into the process of organisational innovation. Then we present the result of our research experiment: the model of the "sponge" organisation. Based on the experience and intuitively stimulated ideas of the project participants, we propose a definition -a list of values and principles, and important "hard" and "soft" attributes- of the ideal enterprise, i.e., one that uses its relationship with the environment as an essential innovation factor. Finally, we discuss the implications of this business concept and compare it with existing management literature. |
| Keywords: | sustainable development; stakeholders; environment; innovation; creativity; |
| Date: | 2006–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0616&r=cse |
| By: | A. WILLEM; M. BUELENS; I. DE JONGHE |
| Abstract: | Background<br> Nurses’ job satisfaction is an important issue because of its impact on the quality of the nursing job. Therefore, it receives a lot of attention in the international nursing literature but insight into the sources of nurses’ job satisfaction is yet insufficient, in particular for sources related to organizational structure. <br>Objectives<br>We contribute by investigating the relationship between the organizational structure variables, formalization, centralization and specialization, and nurses’ job satisfaction. This allows us to learn whether structural changes can help to improve satisfaction, and therefore nurses’ work quality. <br>Design<br>Data was collected by questionnaires in a random sample of 764 non-managing nurses in three Belgian general care hospitals. We measured satisfaction by Stamps and Piedmont’s work satisfaction index. Structure was also measured by an existing scale. <br>Results<br>The results showed the negative effect of centralization and the clearly positive effects of specialization and formalization on nurses’ job satisfaction. These effects differ according to the different dimensions of satisfaction. Furthermore, pay is the most important dimension of nurses job satisfaction but the dimension least influenced by organizational structure. <br>Conclusions<br>The importance of the dimension pay in nurses’ job satisfaction, which is not a function of organizational structure, is limiting hospitals in improving nurses’ job satisfaction. However, organizational structure does impact the other dimensions of satisfaction. Especially, the fact that specialization and formalization have, contrary to our hypotheses, only positive effects on satisfaction is important from a practice perspective and for further research. Furthermore, our data indicates that there is a need to refine one of the dimensions of Stamps and Piedmont index. |
| Keywords: | hospital nurses, job satisfaction, organizational structure, survey |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:05/347&r=cse |
| By: | B. WEIJTERS; N. SCHILLEWAERT; M. GEUENS |
| Abstract: | Based on two data sets, we compare levels of response styles across three modes of data-collection: paper and pencil questionnaires, online questionnaires, and telephone interviews. Using Means And Covariance Structures (MACS), we find that data collected by different modes show differences in response styles levels. More specifically, telephone data show lower levels of midpoint responding. We propose a method to alleviate response style bias in cross-mode comparisons. |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:05/349&r=cse |