Search

In this paper, we investigate the effects of the relation between the human capital of the entrepreneurial team, R&D-manufacturing linkage and the performance of new technology-based firms in accordance with a resource-based view. We try to comprehend how entrepreneurial teams and R&D-manufacturing linkage shape firm's ability to have a positive outcomes in terms of company sales revenue and international connection. We take advantage of a new data relating to a sample composed of 152 taiwanese young firms that operate in technology-based industries. We find that firms with higher proportionally advanced professional education entrepreneurs in the team have a positive effect on firms' performance. Furthermore, it is R&D-manufacturing linkage that determines technology-based firm's growth. Individuals with entrepreneurial experiences exerts key influences on firm's international connection. Firms can also benefit from their team members' background affiliation and achieve better performance. Lastly, we provide evidence that there are gains from the complementary capabilities of entrepreneurial teams and firms relating to (i) advanced professional education , (ii)entrepreneurial or CEO experiences and team members' background affiliation and (iii) R&D-manufacturing linkage. We conclude that the human capital of entrepreneurial team and R&D-manufacturing linkage of new technology-based firms have a critical impact on the firm's development. These findings are consistent with and complements the growing body of research that emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial teams in developing knowledge about the strategies and allocation of the enterprises resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how industry changes through the nonlinear view of chaos theory. Chaos theory implies that a dynamic system is nonlinear. Accordingly, we developed a triangulated analysis constituted by five mathematical approaches, including the BDS test, Hurst exponent, correlation dimension, Lyapunov exponent, and local Lyapunov exponent, to explore industry change as a nonlinear dynamic system. Empirically, we choose to compare the semiconductor industry and the biotechnology industry, using data collected from the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. We found and confirmed that both industries evolved in a nonlinear manner, with the semiconductor industry being less unpredictable, more path-dependent, more sensitive to initial conditions, and has more time-paced incremental innovations than the biotechnology industry. We then complement this analysis with historical case studies that in turn leads us to argue that such differences have much to do with the inherent nature of the industries themselves. While the presence of Moore's Law as a roadmap projects the semiconductor industry into a more predictable path, the distributed nature of biotechnology coupled with the lack of a dominant technology directs the industry towards a system with greater volatilities and nonlinearities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers technological trajectories as a series of problem-solving activities, manifesting the pattern of divergence-convergence knowledge flow. We propose that technological trajectories diverge when new knowledge is able to solve the problem of most concern. Relatedly, technological trajectories converge when existing knowledge becomes obsolescent in the face of new problems. To illustrate our ideas, we choose to study the technological evolution of the thermal inkjet print head, using key-route search and the patent assignee cross-citation network. The thermal inkjet print head experienced three cycles of divergence-convergence knowledge flow, each of which is characterized by the problem of most concern and referred solution. To enhance the rigor of our analysis, we also draw on archival data to examine in more detail the identified main paths as well as the assignee cross- citation network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the diffusion of mobile payment technology in Taiwan from 2012 to 2018. To this end, we employ topic modeling, a computer-based text mining approach, to uncover the hidden structure of the diffusion process by means of coding 1,376 newspaper articles (453,799 words). We identified 14 latent topics based on common patterns that can be categorized into two factors: legitimacy and efficiency, leading to the development of an alternative diffusion model of innovation. This model indicates that at the early stage of innovation diffusion, legitimacy-related factors are more important than efficiency-related factors in characterizing the process. Moreover, as long as the new technology is legitimate to some degree, its diffusion process over time will become significantly more driven by efficiency or demand factors, such as network externalities, cost advantage, and function performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disruptive innovation has become a core subject for technology management and a central part of the modern industrial revolution. Although considerable attention has been paid to its emergent properties and the outcomes of selection, less effort has gone into identifying the diffusion pattern of innovation or into understanding how disruption emerges through the evolving, complex interactions that occur. In this paper, to address this agenda, we draw upon chaos theory to theorize disruptive innovation as a nonlinear dynamic system. Disruptive innovation might be nonlinear because it is time-dependent, deviation-absorbing, and revolves around identifiable types of attractors in a deterministic context or trajectory. To illustrate our ideas, we study the inkjet printer and digital camera technologies, using patent application data collected from the USPTO. We employ nonlinear analysis of correlation dimension to measure the nonlinearity of disruptive change. We found that both chosen technologies evolved through a nonlinear dynamic process and that, according to chaos theory and by way of comparison, there might be of two types of innovation disruption: high-dimensional and low-dimensional chaos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of Uber and Airbnb not only embodies the concept of sharing economy, but also declares war on formal institutions. Concerned with addressing such social conflicts and market uncertainties, this study examines the institutional strategies taken by Uber and Airbnb when entering the Taiwanese market. Using qualitative research procedures, we discuss how Uber and Airbnb draw on set of strategic actions to overcome institutional obstacles, earn recognition from the public and legitimate their new activities. We divide the strategies into three categories: framing, aggregating, and bridging. Uber and Airbnb use framing to make their brand image positive, and aggregating to integrate internal resources. They adopt bridging to cooperate with the external environment and acquire resources that make themselves stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to enrich our understanding of punctuated equilibrium in technological change, which argues that technology evolves through a relatively long period of stability and continuity that is interrupted and punctuated by a relatively short burst of discontinuous, radical change. Most past literature has paid little attention to the embedded knowledge flow in technological change. To address this gap, a conceptual framework is exhibited to summarize our idea. The key-route main path analysis approach is used to construct the knowledge flow in punctuated equilibrium. Empirically, the thermal inkjet printhead is chosen as the research target, and patent data from USPTO were collected and used. We found that thermal inkjet printheads experienced three distinct phases of technological continuities, each of which is a cyclic divergent-convergent knowledge flow initiated by a breakthrough centering around a significant, prioritized technical problem. One knowledge cycle is to shape a distinct knowledge base and a dominant design. In addition, the short burst of punctuation between two sequential knowledge cycles is exactly where a technological discontinuity arises, fundamentally transforming the existing knowledge base to solve emerging problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies chaos theory to innovation processes, highlighting nonlinear behavior and temporal dynamics in the process of substitution of old and established technologies with the newly created ones. We employed two independent but complementary mathematical tools, local Hurst exponent (LHE) and local Lyapunov exponent (LLE), to develop our model of analysis and define the edge of chose. To illustrate our ideas, we analyzed the development of printers during 1976~2012 period using patent application data. The results of the chaotic models were matched against the profiles of patent citation data to provide a triangulated explanation. We discuss implications for chaos theory, innovation studies, research methods, as well as managerial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Chinese shan-zhai entrepreneurs draw on various kinds of rhetorical strategies to build legitimacy and advantage. The research period is from 1998 to 2011, a period during which the shan-zhai industry grew from an informal and shattered one to a formal and competitive one. We emphasize three kinds of legitimacy - pragmatic, moral, and cognitive - that Chinese entrepreneurs need to ensure survival and growth. Grounded on a case study approach, we show that the process of legitimizing is strategically constructed as a sequence of steps: from pragmatic through moral to cognitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a longitudinal, embedded case study, this study explores the origin and evolution of organizational innovative capabilities. We show that capability development is connected to the way organizations exploit and utilize their capabilities and continually renew, develop and transform their capability paths from the exploration of, and interaction with, new technology. We also identify the significance of higher-order dynamic capabilities in enabling the organization to address innovation tensions and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]