Jens Laage-Hellman

The Economic Dynamics of Modern Biotechnology

This book offers a novel insight into the economic dynamics of modern biotechnology, using examples from Europe to reflect global trends. The authors apply theoretical insight to a fundamental enigma of the modern learning society, namely, how and why the development of knowledge and ideas interact with market processes and the formation of industries and firms.

A European Survey on Biobanks: Trends and Issues

Biobanks have recently gained great significance for research and personalised medicine, being recognised as a crucial infrastructure. At the same time, the widely varied practices in biobanking may also pose a barrier to cross-border research and collaboration by limiting access to samples and data. Nevertheless, the extent of the actual activities and the impact of the level of networking and harmonisation have not been fully assessed. To address these issues and to obtain missing knowledge on the extent of biobanking in Europe, the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in collaboration with the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO), conducted a survey among European biobanks. In total, 126 biobanks from 23 countries responded to the survey. Most of them are small or medium-sized public collections set up either for population-based or disease-specific research purposes. The survey indicated a limited networking among the infrastructures. The large majority of them are stand-alone collections and only about half indicated to have a policy for cross-border sharing of samples. Yet, scientific collaborations based on the use of each biobank appear to be prominent. Significant variability was found in terms of consent requirements and related procedures as well as for privacy and data protection issues among the biobanks surveyed. To help promote networking of biobanks and thus maximise public health benefits, at least some degree of harmonisation should be achieved.

Information Technology and the Efficiency of Materials Supply - The implementation of EDI in Swedish construction industry

Abstract Electronic data interchange (EDI) and other forms of information technology have attracted a lot of interest as a means for making the materials supply system more efficient. Potential cost savings and the opportunities for increased competitiveness have been recognized by, among others, the large Swedish construction companies. However, despite this interest in EDI communication and several years of industry-wide development work, practical use is still very limited. The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse the potential advantages of EDI, and to identify and analyse implementation problems and barriers that contribute to the slow rate of diffusion.

Customer Involvement in Product Development : An Industrial Network Perspective

Purpose: In business markets, working with customers and users has become increasingly important to get knowledge about customer needs and to develop new products. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to develop a framework for analyzing customer involvement in product development in a business market context, and (2) to apply this framework to a particular company to describe and analyze how it practices customer involvement. Methodology/approach: The article takes its main theoretical starting point in the industrial network approach, but also uses other literature from the innovation and product development field. The empirical study applies a qualitative case study approach and focuses on one company in the truck business. Findings: The suggested framework deals with four key aspects of customer involvement: Why, when, how, and who. The observed pattern of the truck manufacturer shows how dealers, hauliers, and truck drivers are all part of the overall understanding of the customer. These actors are involved for different, typically very clear, purposes at different points in time through surveys, product clinics, and field testing. The pattern, referred to as mixed facilitative, is not one of close collaboration with individual customers, but one of broad involvement of several customers through business intelligence and direct involvement. Research implications: First, the article provides researchers with a framework and method for studying customer involvement in product development. Second, the case study provides an illustrative example of the customer involvement pattern pursued by a leading company in a major industry. This enhances the understanding of the focal phenomenon, leads to managerial implications, and gives ideas for future research. Practical implications: There are several managerial implications related to the why, when, how, and who questions. For example, it is pointed out that managers should consider involving customers more extensively than what seems to be common today—for example, by using customers as codevelopers, working with them throughout the entire development process (i.e., not only early and late), and including different types of users (with different requirements and wishes). Originality/value/contribution of the article: The contribution lies in the development of a framework centered on the four key questions of customer involvement in product development and using this framework for observing a pattern, and finding explanations and relating this pattern to how other firms are doing.

Growth Dynamics in the Biomedical/Biotechnology System

This article aims to understand the dynamics of growth in the biomedical/biotechnology system that consists of a variety of actors ranging from universities, medical supplies firms, and drug research firms, to clinical service suppliers. Based on a comparative study made in Ohio and in Sweden, we have analyzed three main factors: technology competencies, technology transfer, and networking capabilities. Our findings show a set of differences that can be grouped into two categories, viz. management and agglomeration externalities. Differences in management appear at three points: the resources allocated to technological competence development, managerial skills in the technology transfer phase, and the use of technology councils. Ohio seems to offer a better environment for starting up new firms and enabling these firms to successfully commercialize their technological assets. The agglomeration externalities that make a difference between the two regions might be grouped into two categories: increasing returns arising from network externalities and the advantages of networking with a variety of supporting organizations in the system.

Stylized Facts about Innovation Processes in Modern Biotechnology

This book offers a novel insight into the economic dynamics of modern biotechnology, using examples from Europe to reflect global trends. The authors apply theoretical insight to a fundamental enigma of the modern learning society, namely, how and why the development of knowledge and ideas interact with market processes and the formation of industries and firms.

5 R&D Collaboration and Start Ups

It is well known from previous studies that RD Baraldi, Gressetvold, & Harrison, 2012; Gressetvold, 2004; Hakansson, 1987; Hakansson & Waluszewski, 2002, 2007; Laage-Hellman, 1997; Wedin, 2001) as well as other types of innovation studies (e.g. McKelvey, Zaring, & Ljungberg, 2015; Melander, 2014; von Hippel, 1988). Innovation thus tends to be the outcome of interaction processes between different types of actors including, for example, selling and buying firms.

Micro-Level Analysis of Firms in the Biomedical Clusters in Ohio and Sweden

This chapter deals with the question raised in Chapter 4 — namely, “Why has the biomedical cluster in Ohio grown faster and become more fully developed than that in Sweden?” By analyzing firms that develop and/or produce biomedical products, the core actors of the cluster in terms of economic value creation, we will show that a partial answer lies in the managerial competencies of fines, an outcome of the competence bloc they are operating within (Eliasson and Eliasson 1996). The analysis of firms’ competence will be operationalized through the analysis of three main factors: production and technology competencies, technology transfer capabilities, and commercialization strength.

Collaborative Strategies: How and Why Academic Spin-offs Interact with Engineering University Centers

This chapter follows the management and development of two KIE ventures that are academic spin-offs, in relation to collaborative strategies. The perspective is on how and why academic spin-offs continue to engage in collaborative strategies with engineering centers located at the university. The KIE ventures use the centers to access scientific and technological knowledge, as expected, but they also are interested in accessing other resources and networks to help further develop their research, product and market development. The key message is that networks with research centers at the university help shape the venture. Even after the founding phase, these KIE ventures can use collaborative strategies for research to access resources and ideas – involving scientific and technological knowledge but also market and business knowledge. The results of the chapter help us understand in particular how the venture needs to continue to access resources and ideas, even during the management and development phase of the KIE conceptual model. The KIE ventures are academic spin-offs, heavily involved in the development of technologies, and yet they greatly benefit from these university networks to access market knowledge from other, established firms, and to access business knowledge through the recruitment of experienced managers.