Donna Kelley

Radical innovation: triggering initiation of opportunity recognition and evaluation

The gap between a firm’s reservoir of technical knowledge and the formation of a project to explore the commercial potential of a breakthrough technical insight or discovery is the first major discontinuity in the radical innovation lifecycle. The first step toward bridging that gap occurs when the researcher with the technical insight recognizes that it might have commercial potential and decides to alert a research manager. In our longitudinal study of eight radical innovation projects in six large, multi-national, R&D-intensive firms, the initiation of a radical innovation project was neither frequent nor routine. In fact the participants in the study indicated that the initiation of a project – in their terminology, the ‘fuzzy front end of innovation’– was the most challenging and uncertain part of the lifecycle. In this paper we explore the case data to illuminate the nature of the initiation gap. In addition we present an assessment framework that can help researchers decide whether or not to bring their technical idea to the attention of management. If the decision is positive, the assessment tool can help them prepare for the discussion with management and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the case to submitted for evaluation.

SME Survival: The Impact of Internationalization, Technology Resources, and Alliances

This research examines the impact of internationalization on small and medium enterprise (SME) survival, and the direct and moderating effects of technology resources and research and development (R&D) alliances. Our survey examination of 1,612 Korean SMEs reveals that sales internationalization is associated with better survival prospects, suggesting that failure risk does not increase with cross‐border sales. In addition, though technology resources provide no direct survival benefits, R&D intensity acts as a moderator in the internationalization‐to‐survival relationship. R&D alliances, on the other hand, are directly linked with survival but do not show a moderating effect. This supports the liabilities of newness and smallness view that external relationships can help counter survival threats but suggests that the accumulation of technology resources may be more important when firms seek international expansion.

Advantage beyond founding: The strategic use of technologies

Abstract We explore the interrelationship between efforts to build technology portfolios and form alliances, and the link between these technology-based strategic actions and product innovations rate in new firms. Our analysis of secondary data from 67 computer and telecommunications firms reveals significant positive relationship between technology portfolio worth and rate of alliance formation. We also find a significant positive relationship between rate of alliance formation and product innovation rate, but only a moderate relationship between technology portfolio worth and product innovation rate. Our findings suggest that new firms building valuable technology portfolios exhibit a superior capacity for forming alliances. And those forming alliances at a high rate are more likely to be frequent product innovators.

Technology resources, alliances, and sustained growth in new, technology-based firms

This research examines the relationship between technology resources, alliance formation, and sustained growth in new technology-based firms. We employ a three-dimensional measure of technology resources that includes the development and commercialization of technologies, and represents both a firms initial resource foundation and its early actions to build on this foundation. Our analysis of 67 computer and telecommunications firms reveals that innovative first products are not associated with sustained growth, while patenting and product development activities are. This indicates that new firms cannot rely on their initial innovations for longer term advantage, but need to undertake follow up actions to build their technology resource foundations. In addition, while all three of the technology resource variables are positively associated with alliance formation, alliances, in turn, are weakly and negatively associated with sustained growth. The advantage of forming alliances has long been extolled, and it was assumed these benefits extended to new firms and those in technology-intensive environments. These findings suggest, however, that building, rather than accessing, technology resources is more critical to long-term growth for these firms. Our research provides convincing evidence that new firms should not be complacent about their initial success derived from innovative beginnings. They must turn their attention, early on, to building their technology resources internally, while exercising caution with respect to alliances.

Technology-Based Strategic Actions in New Firms: The Influence of Founding Technology Resources

This research proposes that qualities of founding resources can account for differences in subsequent resource-based actions. Our analysis of 67 computer and telecommunications firms shows that the innovativeness of a firms founding technology resources is associated with the decision to build patent portfolios, but not the importance of these portfolios, and with the decision to form alliances and the rate of alliance formation. Our findings suggest that initial technologies provide a foundation for a firms subsequent technology-based actions and, more importantly, that the qualities of these resources play a key role in these actions.

Leveraging the Value of Proprietary Technologies

This research examines the relationship between technology portfolios and the rate of alliance formation in new, technology‐based firms. It uses a knowledge‐based perspective to build an argument that new firms can enhance their capacity for forming alliances by building portfolios of technologies and increasing the communicability of their value through patents. We find support for this position in our examination of patent and alliance activities in 67 new firms from the computer and telecommunications industries. These findings provide insights about the relationship between a firm’s efforts to build a portfolio of technology resources, the value of which can be understood by potential partners, and its pursuit of development activities extending beyond the boundaries of the internal organization.

INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMPETENCE: A KNOWLEDGE-BASED PERSPECTIVE

Research on corporate entrepreneurship (CE) has grown rapidly over the past decade (for reviews, see Dess et al., 2003). This interest in CE stems from rising international competition, requiring companies to learn new skills and develop new competencies (Eisemhardt & Santos, 2003). These competencies enable companies to compete in new market arenas both at home and internationally, creating value for shareholders (McGrath, MacMillan & Venkataraman, 1995). With more and more companies focusing on international expansion, recent research on CE has focused on examining international issues. Though most past research is comparative in nature, some has investigated companies’ international expansion as a forum within which CE activities unfold (Zahra & Garvis, 2000).

ICSB‐WEC webinar report on women's entrepreneurship

Purpose – The purpose of this short report is to provide a summary of the inaugural webinar session of the Womens Enterprise Committee (WEC), International Council for Small Business (ICSB).Design/methodology/approach – In a live webinar from Babson College, Professors Brush, Duffy and Kelley discussed key findings from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2010 Womens Report.Findings – An important finding was that there are over 40 percent more men than women entrepreneurs in all but one of the 59 countries studied. Women entrepreneurs are also more likely than men to engage in entrepreneurship due to necessity.Research limitations/implications – It is recognised that further studies are required to determine the reasons behind the differences in male‐female entrepreneurship participation rates globally.Practical implications – It would appear that considerable scope exists to develop the entrepreneurial potential of women across the globe.Originality/value – The GEM Womens Report is the most com...

The relationship between technology-based and product-based knowledge and alliance formation in new firms

Firms are typically viewed as seeking alliances to achieve certain outcomes, advantages they perceive will result from these relationships. Our research investigates whether certain inputs, specifically knowledge, can explain differential alliance formation. Our empirical analysis of 67 new computer and telecommunications firms reveals that firms with more extensive technology-based and product-based knowledge are more likely to form alliances at a higher rate than those with less extensive knowledge. The implications for these findings are that alliances are more attractive to firms with a foundation of knowledge that can be leveraged, and firms with this knowledge have something of value to attract alliance partners.

The Role of Cognition and Information Access in the Recognition of Innovative Opportunities

This research examines nascent entrepreneurs’ perceptions about the innovativeness of the opportunities they have recognized. Results from a survey of 324 nascent entrepreneurs in Taiwan indicate that ones level of prior industry experience, orientation toward risk, and access to information in the environment are each associated with perceived innovativeness of the opportunity. An examination of interaction effects shows that when prior industry experience is low, risk taking propensity boosts the level of perceived innovativeness, but does not have an effect in the case of high industry experience. The findings suggest that cognitive elements and information access can play a role in the identification and pursuit of innovative opportunities.