Felicia Fai

Industry-specific competencies and converging technological systems: evidence from patents

Abstract Utilising patent data, this empirical paper draws upon the notion of technological path-dependence at the industry level and finds that industry-specific competencies have endured strongly over the twentieth century — industrial sectors patent most in their corresponding technological fields, and differences in overall technological profiles remain quite marked. However, in an increasingly complex technological environment, paradigms developed within one industry may spill over into others as firms seek to absorb them. Eventually, after long periods of time the spillovers may become large as firms go beyond the development of new applications of their core technologies into the absorption of new modes of technological behaviour originally developed elsewhere. Technological profiles therefore show a pattern of ‘convergence’ under such conditions. Firms unable to attain this second stage of spillover may become ‘industrial dinosaurs’.

Scale and scope in technology: large firms 1930/1990

We examine historical empirical patterns of change in corporate. technological scale and scope. Much literature on scale and scope by business and economic historians has conflated product markets and technology together. However, given the technologically complex environment of the late twentieth century, the relationship between scale and scope in production and products is not simple, and conflated discussions may be naive. Consequently we have two aims. Firstly, we wish to see if technological scale and scope follow the historical pattern of broader notions of scale and scope. Secondly, given increasing technological complexity, we consider whether the nature of corporate technological scope has changed over time. Using data drawn from the University of Readings patents database, we examine the technological activities in 32 of the worlds historically largest patenting firms over the period 1930 to 1990. Shin-sham analyses based on panel-data regressions examine the different influences on technologicascope over time. A technological trend closely resembling that of broader notions of scale to scope is observable in most of the sectors. although it does not proceed uniformly. We also find, that whilst increases in corporate technological scope through diversification are not particularly linked to technological relatedness in recent times, they are periodically influenced by the rise of pervasive, fast-growing new technologies.

Path dependence as a political construct, the disruptive influence of technology and Japanese aerospace

Japan has largely failed to develop an extensive aerospace industry designing and manufacturing entire aircraft. One explanation has been that the political cum security relationship between the US and Japan precluded the development of an autonomous aerospace industry. This relationship may be changing. Japan has succeeded in gaining extensive sub-contracting work on the new Boeing 787, including technology-rich work on wing design. As such, this paper puts a different take on the concept of path dependence; that it can be a social construction. This paper considers whether technological change in the sector is, however, opening opportunities for Japanese firms to break free from their current trajectory.

Managerial Issues in International Business

List of Tables List of Figures Foreword J.Clegg Notes on the Contributors Managerial Issues in International Business: Introduction F.M.Fai & E.J.Morgan The Relevance of Internationalization Theories: A Contingency Framework C.A.Solberg & V.Askeland Cheating and Incentive Schemes in International Joint Ventures U.F.Ott Managerial Perspectives on Business Purpose: Values, National Values and Institutions S.Harris & C.Carr A New Perspective on Parenting Spin-offs for Cluster Formation M.P.Ferreira, W.Hesterley & A.T.Tavares Towards an Explanation of MNE FDI in the City of London Financial Services Cluster N.R.Pandit, G.A.S.Cook & P.N.Ghauri International Entrepreneurship Strategy and Managing Network Dynamics: SMEs in the UK Advertising Sector D.K.Boojihawon Cross-Border Management Issues in International Law Firms S.Segal-Horn & A.Dean The Performance Management-Training Interface in Australian Firms in China S.McGrath-Champ & X.Yang Country of Origin Effects on Knowledge Transfers from MNEs to their Chinese Suppliers: An Exploratory Investigation J -L.Duanmu Foreign Direct Investment Flows into an Integrating Europe: MNE Strategy and Location Decisions1981-2001 D.Dimitropoulou & R.Pearce New Directions in International Business S.Collinson, P.Buckley, G.Yip & J.Dunning Index

Decomposing technological change at the twilight of the twentieth century: evidence and lessons from the world’s largest innovating firms

Summary The present-day economy, characterised by a pattern of steady technological and organisational change, has its roots in the so-called information revolution of the late twentieth century. As this unique period of recent history recedes, the benefits of hindsight make it possible to deliver new perspectives on what really happened across industries facing rapidly mutating global competitive settings. This paper provides an analysis of the transformations that occurred in a collection of technological capabilities nurtured by industrial sectors as represented by nearly 500 of the world’s largest industrial corporations during the 1980s and 1990s. Using structural decomposition analysis it shows how industries adapted under the strain of radical shifts in the technological context with varying degrees of success.

Towards a novel technology transfer office typology and recommendations for developing countries

Potentially, technology transfer offices (TTOs) can play a significant role in facilitating the successful transfer of technologies and knowledge between universities and industry. Many developing countries are currently developing technology transfer practices within their universities. However, many developing country TTOs operate inefficiently or are ineffective. The sharing of experiences can lead to improvements in this endeavour. Advanced nations can serve as a frame of reference and a basis of policy recommendations for developing countries due to the longevity of their technology transfer activities. The authors issued 234 questionnaires to European university TTOs, of which 54 usable questionnaires were returned. They combine the data from these questionnaires with 19 interviews conducted with university TTO staff from 9 countries in an attempt to create a typology of practices that developing nations could emulate to improve technology transfer in their own contexts. While ultimately a clear typology was not forthcoming, the authors found some relationship between the dominant focus in the mission statement of developed country TTOs, the activities they undertake, their position in the university governance structure and their level of maturity which may usefully inform the development of TTO practices in developing countries.

Managerial Issues in International Business: Introduction

This 13th volume of the Z (AIB) series, based on selected papers presented at the AIB UK 32nd annual conference, is organized around the theme of the managerial challenges that may face businesses as they internationalize. Within this theme, the nature of the contributions included in the book is diverse in many ways, not only in terms of the managerial issues discussed but also in terms of the theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, levels of analysis and the industrial settings adopted in the research. This diversity reflects the variety and complexity of the challenges facing managers in today’s global economy and well as the breadth and richness of the academic field of international business (IB).