Elicia Maine

Commercializing Generic Technology: The Case of Advanced Materials Ventures

Generic, radical technology is of interest because of its potential for value creation across a broad range of industries and applications. Advanced materials ventures are attracted by this opportunity yet face intensified challenges in commercializing technology of this kind as upstream entrants into distinct established value chains. In this paper, we build on Freeman’s concept of technological innovation as a technological and market matching process to develop a new model of the variables influencing value creation by advanced materials ventures. We then demonstrate the model using evidence from a sample of 10 US advanced materials ventures, including an in-depth case study exemplar. From the literature, our model, and our case study observation, we construct four propositions concerning the success of advanced materials ventures in commercializing radical technology.

Radical Innovation through Internal Corporate Venturing: Degussa's Commercialization of Nanomaterials

Internal corporate venturing enables radical innovation within established firms in mature markets. Without effectively designed and managed internal corporate ventures, the organizational constraints of established firms will strongly favour incremental innovation over radical innovation. This paper investigates the evolution of a successful internal corporate venture within a large, incumbent chemical firm, now known as Evonik Degussa, to reveal the challenges, organizational design, and management strategies of their commercialization of radical nanomaterials technology. The commercialization of nanomaterials technology is of great interest to incumbent materials and chemical firms and to independent ventures, but the radical, generic, and capital intensive nature of nanomaterials technology requires organizational and managerial innovation. This case study demonstrates a model to enable growth through radical innovation in nanomaterials, while taking advantage of an incumbent firms capabilities and complementary assets. Organizational strategies include incubation from a risk-adverse culture, relatively long timelines for evaluation, and a high-level steering committee. Managerial strategies focus on product development, risk reduction, and active risk management.

Investing in new materials: a tool for technology managers

Abstract A technology management tool has been developed to determine the attractiveness of a materials innovation by systematically assessing the technical and economic viability, along with the likelihood to capture profits created. The Investment Methodology for Materials (IMM) may prevent companies from pursuing investment strategies destined for failure. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), often started by the inventor of a new material, have had particular difficulty in commercialising new materials—either due to the upfront and risky expense involved in displacing an incumbent material in a mature industry or due to the need for complementary innovations to enable a radical innovation. IMM helps identify promising materials innovations at an early stage, helps to direct research and development in directions most likely to lead to successful exploitation, shortens the gestation time of materials substitution and guides investment strategy. IMM adapts existing and emerging predictive software tools and business strategies to materials innovations, linking them to give a practical, comprehensive procedure. It consists of three interwoven strands: viability analysis , market assessment and value capture . For SMEs this technology management tool would be most easily applied by an outside consultant over a period of approximately one month.

An investment methodology for materials

Will a new material innovation succeed in the market place? Should time and money be invested in developing it? By whom? A methodology has been developed to address these questions. The investment methodology for materials (IMM) is proposed to help identify promising materials innovations at an early stage, helping to direct research and development in directions most likely to lead to successful exploitation, and guiding investment strategy to achieve this. IMM adapts existing and emerging predictive software tools and business strategies to materials innovations, linking them to give a practical, comprehensive procedure. It consists of three interwoven strands: viability assessment, market forecasting and value capture. Viability assessment involves the analysis of technical suitability of the material for an application, an estimate of production cost, and the markets trade-off between performance attributes and cost. Market forecasting involves gathering application-specific market preferences, making an estimate of the technically and economically viable market size, and predicting the timing of industrial adoption by comparison with relevant historical precedents. The analysis of value capture utilises tools to assess industry structure, appropriability and organisational structure. The methodology was developed in response to perceived under-investment in new materials innovation. It has been validated through interviews with venture capitalists and materials industry experts. IMM is aimed in particular at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which are attempting to commercialise a new materials innovation. It is envisioned that IMM will assist SMEs in obtaining financing to commercialise new materials innovations and/or to refocus their efforts. The method is demonstrated through a case study in a companion paper.

Cost Estimation and the Vialibity of Metal Foams

At present all metal foams are produced in small quantities using time and labor-intensive methods, and all, relative to the solid metals from which they derive, are expensive. Thus, one may ask if metal foams are viable. By viable a favorable balance between performance and cost is meant. Viability is assessed by constructing a value function which includes measures of both performance and cost. It allows ranking of materials by both economic and technical criteria. The authors describe progress in constructing and using cost models for two of the processes by which metal foams are made, and describe their method for assessing the viability of a new material.

Applying the investment methodology for materials (IMM) to aluminium foams

Abstract A methodology for assessing the commercial potential and thus, the business case, for a materials innovation was presented in a companion paper (Maine and Ashby, ‘An investment methodology for materials’ Mater Design, 2002). The investment methodology for materials (IMM) is here applied to a recent innovation — that of metal foams. Several processes for making foamed aluminium are now in the process of scale-up for large scale production, although none, at this point in time, have found a viable commercial application. Here one class of application — that of energy absorption in automotive design — is explored in depth, examining technical viability, market structure and the probability of value capture, illustrating IMM in operation. The method helps direct R&D programs, informs business decision-making and guides investment policy-making.

The emergence of the nanobiotechnology industry

The confluence of nanotechnology and biotechnology provides significant commercial opportunities. By identifying, classifying and tracking firms with capabilities in both biotechnology and nanotechnology over time, we analyse the emergence and evolution of the global nanobiotechnology industry.

Technical-economic cost modeling as a technology management tool: A case study of membranes for PEM fuel cells

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how technical-economical cost modeling can help in steering research and development to target key production cost elements of new products based on emerging technologies.Design/methodology/approach – The authors demonstrate the development and use of a technical-economic cost model (TCM) of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) in fuel cells to steer research to produce more economical and reliable products. A TCM is developed to depict how the production cost per unit varies depending on the different fabrication methods, production rate limitations, material selection, labor distribution, energy consumption, financial parameters and the target production volume. By using such an approach in the design, research time and resources can be saved by prioritizing R&D and production scale-up options at an early stage.Findings – The results of this study show the importance of applying technical-economic cost model (TCM) techniques on early stage research projects to steer the development for resolving key problematic figures. As a case study, a cost analysis platform has been established to apply this technique by analyzing different manufacturing and R&D options for producing durable PEM fuel cells. The projected manufacturing cost of the PEM is found to be lower than previously estimated and the enhanced durability does not significantly impact this production cost.Originality/value – Production is an important factor in informing NPD targets and R&D direction. And yet it is difficult to estimate scaled up production cost for prototype products and components in the R&D lab. Technical-economic cost models (TCM) are a tool to assist decision-making in technology portfolio management and NPD.

An Integrated Approach to Studying Multiplexity in Entrepreneurial Networks

Abstract Multiplexity occurs in entrepreneurial networks when flows interact within and across relationships. It defines how these networks function and evolve and cannot be examined by studying network structure or flows separately. Despite the growing recognition of the importance of multiplexity, related research has remained limited and lacks an integrated approach to simultaneously examine structure and flows, thus restricting our understanding of entrepreneurial networks. We propose an integrated approach for conducting inductive studies into multiplexity, involving an adaptation of the “business networks” conceptual model, the configuration theory perspective, and the Q-analysis method.

Network embeddedness as a predictor of performance for New Technology-Based Firms

The logic of network embeddedness has been widely used in the technology entrepreneurship literature in recent years, yet its operationalisation and use are neither well understood nor agreed upon. This paper reviews the logic of network embeddedness as it has been invoked and operationalised to predict the performance of New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs). We find network embeddedness to be a useful predictor for NTBF performance when operationalised at both the dyad and network levels and when interaction effects or contingency factors that account for environmental conditions and firm constraints are included.