Strategic Considerations for Innovation and Commercialization in the US Biotechnology Sector

This paper examines the importance of alliances as an innovation strategy utilized by US biotechnology firms. In doing so, the role of alliances with universities vis-à-vis alliances with industrial companies is emphasized. The biotechnology sector is dominated by few large and many small firms. The small firms are research focused or technology developers. Several large firms are now integrated biopharmaceutical companies. Very few small firms can survive without strengthening their relationships with universities, biotechnology or pharmaceutical or other large companies. These relationships range from licensing agreements, export–import connections to various forms of alliances for R&D, product development and marketing. Large firms supplement in-house R&D by acquiring research products and/or new technologies from small firms as well as universities. A survey of US biotechnology companies is used to show the emergence of alliance relationships, which continue to highlight university linkages, emphasize connections of biotechnology firms with other biotechnology entrepreneurs, and an ongoing effort to build a synergistic relationship with pharmaceutical or other large companies. Most linkages are not confined to the local area; the main locational attribute is the science base or the labour market.     

Local politics and foreign ventures in China's transitional economy: the political economy of Singaporean investments in China

The re-articulation of China into the global economy since December 1978 has led to a tremendous influx of foreign capital during the past two decades. Constrained by the limited domestic market and encouraged by home-country government, transnational corporations from Singapore are regionalising increasingly into the Asia Pacific region. To date, a significant amount of Singaporean investments abroad has gone to China. Based on personal interviews with parent companies in Singapore and their subsidiaries and/or affiliates in China, this paper aims to examine the political economy of Singaporean investments in China. Specifically, I argue that successful cross-border operations of Singaporean firms are embedded in dense networks of social and political relationships. These relationships provide the political leverage and strategic resources to enable the establishment of Singaporean firms in China. This establishment, however, is contingent on blending with local politics in China through which foreign firms use leverage on the partnership advantage of local governments (difang zhengfu), their enterprises, and business activities. This rise of local corporatism is a key institutional consequence of the recent rescaling of China's political economy. Case studies of ventures by Singaporean firms in China are presented to support my arguments. Taken together, these empirical materials shed light on the importance of understanding the role of politics at different spatial scales in influencing transnational corporations and their international business operations.     

The Effects of Exogenous Shocks on the Development of Regional Innovation Systems

Drawing on previous studies related to the evolutionary aspects of regional innovation systems (RIS), this paper examines how an exogenous shock reduced organizational thinness, fragmentation and lock-in and thereby facilitated path creation and RIS emergence in a peripheral region. A longitudinal case study approach, based on primary data from 39 interviews conducted between 2008 and 2012, is used to investigate how a region was affected by the sudden entry and subsequent activity of a multinational oil company. A multi-level analysis illustrates how this exogenous shock facilitated change at the firm, public authority and macro (regional) levels and thus provides a holistic understanding of the complex mechanisms that underlie regional transformation. The analysis illustrates how the entry of the oil company reduced organizational thinness by stimulating the establishment of external firms. The existing regional actors then managed to reduce their organizational lock-in by adapting their skills and resource bases to new knowledge provided through interfirm relationships (reduced fragmentation), and this reduced organizational lock-in and fragmentation ultimately strengthened the industrial structure and further contributed to regional path creation. A number of innovations were observed, and in combination with the “thickened” institutional structure, this represented the means for an emerging RIS.     

The Resilience of Clusters in the Context of Increasing Globalization: The Basque Wind Energy Value Chain

In this paper, we study how globalization impacts on the structure and governance patterns of value chains and on the resilience of local clusters. We study the value chains related to two Basque (Spain) companies in the wind energy industry, Iberdrola and Gamesa, and the local cluster to which they belong. We find that firms within the cluster have different types of relationships with lead companies depending on their competences and the complexity of their products. As a consequence, firms also present different potential for growth and/or resilience: some have the capacity to internationalize their operations and/or shift to the offshore wind market, others are vulnerable to competition from providers in the emerging countries. Against this context, we discuss how the cluster responds to these challenges and the role of policy.     

Coping with Economic Crises—The Role of Clusters

The paper analyses the role clusters can play in coping with the impacts of economic crises, specifically by addressing how cluster organizations have acted to meet the challenges following the economic crises in Norway in the period 2008–2010. The paper investigates whether cluster maturity influences how the cluster acts in response to a crisis. To shed light on these questions, survey data from Norwegian cluster organizations were collected in two waves (spring 2009 and autumn 2010), and case studies of four cluster organizations provide further detail. The data indicate that clusters play a role in reducing uncertainty and improving access to necessary resources in crises periods. The data indicate that these advantages are not only due to increased collaboration between firms within the cluster, but that cluster organizations engage in considerable lobbying on behalf of their firms in regards to regional and national policy makers and public funding bodies. When comparing the impact experienced by mature and emerging clusters and their adaptation strategies, the data show that more mature clusters adapted to recent crises by implementing new innovation strategies and increasing collaboration and competence-building activities, to a greater extent than emerging clusters.     

Guilty by Association: A Cross-industrial Approach to Sourcing Complementary Knowledge in the Uppsala Biotechnology Cluster

A wide range of industrial studies recognize the tendency of similar and related economic activities to co-locate in so-called industrial systems or clusters. While a cluster is defined by its cross-industrial relations the supporting and complementary role of cluster actors is seldom fully explored. This study will focus on the dynamics of cluster relations and give an account for the complementary nature of clusters by analysing anchor firms and complementary agents (such as specialized service providers and institutions for collaboration) in the Uppsala biotechnology cluster in Sweden. The empirical data used involves a triangulation of interview, survey and individual-based register data based upon a mapping of cluster actors active in 2002 and 2003. It is shown that both the formerly dominant pharmaceutical company and the local university have actively taken the role as anchor firms/organizations creating a local and dynamic milieu for biotechnology activities. Furthermore, it is shown that the local cluster consists of a variety of complementary agents contributing to knowledge spillovers and cluster competitiveness.     

Networks Mobilized to Access Key Resources at Early Stages of Biotech Firms: A Comparative Analysis in Two Moderately Innovative Countries

This paper investigates the networking behaviour of biotechnology start-ups in peripheral locations. The aim is to understand whether the conditions found in this type of environment introduce some specificities in the networking process, namely in network building and early mobilization to access key resources. The paper compares biotechnology start-ups in Portugal and in Southern Italy, focusing on relationships with research organizations and on the relevance assumed by international connections, and investigating the role played by entrepreneurs’ personal networks. The research identified some common features that diverge from the typical biotechnology start-up behaviour and can be regarded as firms’ adaptive responses to the conditions faced. Notwithstanding the frequent presence of close connections with local research organizations—that often play functions that go much beyond that of a knowledge source—the local environment is a lesser determinant for a substantial proportion of firms than would be expected in start-ups. A distinctive feature of these firms is an extensive reliance on foreign sources, for different purposes and from the very early stages. Entrepreneurs’ personal networks are found to be instrumental, both to identify and obtain knowledge in the vicinity and to support the establishment of more complex distant relationships.     

Global Value Chains,Industrial Policy and Economic Upgrading in Ethiopia's Apparel Sector

This article examines whether low-income countries can still benefit from participating in manufacturing global value chains (GVCs) in terms of broader industrial development in a global context of greater competition and higher requirements. It contends that developing internationally competitive local firms and domestic linkages, in addition to upgrading, is crucial for participation in GVCs to drive industrialization. The study focuses on Ethiopia's recent experience with developing an apparel export industry through strategic industrial policy. Based on original empirical data collected through firm-level surveys and interviews with government officials, industry experts and buyers, the article analyses the upgrading and localization trajectories of foreign and local apparel-exporting firms. It argues that value-capture benefits in assembly positions in apparel GVCs have become more difficult. The potential for localization benefits depends on the type of global buyers and foreign producers and their levels of embeddedness, but whether this potential is realized also depends on local firm characteristics and related industrial policy. Ethiopia's industrial policy has been relatively successful regarding national economy linkages, but less successful in developing competitive local export firms due to a weak local manufacturing tradition combined with a global context that has led to a supplier squeeze.     

When Firms Take the Lead in Facilitating Clusters

This paper focuses on the role of lead firms and their efforts to facilitate the development of clusters. Several clusters are known for the location of the lead firms that create and shape them, for example, by increasing their skill base, attracting suppliers and creating entrepreneurial activity. However, the literature suffers from insufficient dialogue on the role of lead firms as facilitators of clusters and on how the developmental differences in clusters affect the facilitation performed, and thus the benefits delivered, by lead firms. A key question then is how does the facilitation by lead firms differ in a top-down cluster from that in a bottom-up cluster? The paper is based on a comparative case study investigating the facilitating role of a lead firm within two clusters: Medicon Valley (top-down) and Mechatronics Cluster Denmark (bottom-up). The main conclusion reached is that lead firms in top-down clusters and in bottom-up clusters contribute with quite similar and overlapping cluster benefits, but the way in which these benefits are delivered differs greatly.     

Oil Exploration in Colonial Nigeria,c. 1903–58

This article explores the history of oil exploration in colonial Nigerian between c.1903 and 1958 when the first shipment of Nigerian crude oil arrived in Rotterdam. It debunks the two most persistent myths in Nigerian oil historiography, namely that oil exploration dates back to 1908 when the German oil company, the Nigeria Bitumen Corporation, started operations. An examination of contemporary sources shows that oil exploration activities date back to at least 1903, and that Nigeria Bitumen was indeed a British oil company with a listing on the West African Market of the stock exchange in London. The paper argues that the challenging Nigerian environment, which required sophisticated technology, and the limited support from the British government ensured the failure of early oil exploration activities by small British oil concerns. Consequently, over time, the exploration of the oil possibilities of colonial Nigeria became the domain of large, integrated oil companies, in particular Royal Dutch/Shell and British Petroleum, who had the financial resources to fund the expensive search for oil in the colony and the technological expertise and equipment to achieve success over the long term. This dominance by the majors remained a characteristic of the Nigerian oil industry well into the 1990s. The colonial roots of two additional characteristics of the modern oil industry in Nigeria are further traced, namely the enclave nature of the industry within the broader Nigerian economy and the establishment of oil as a national concern, which concern in general overruled the oil-related problems and concerns of local oil producing communities until the emergence of oil-related minority struggles in the 1990s.     

BRAIN CIRCULATION AND FLEXIBLE ADJUSTMENT: LABOUR MOBILITY AS A CLUSTER ADVANTAGE

This article explores the role of labour mobility as a potential cluster advantage. We review the theoretical arguments as for how and why labour mobility could enhance the dynamism and performance of clusters of similar and related firms. A combination of quantitative and qualitative data from two information and communication technology (ICT) clusters is used to answer two research questions: (1) What is the role of mobility enhancing (or restricting) institutions in clusters? and (2) In what ways does labour mobility contribute to knowledge transfer within clusters? The two ICT clusters studied in the article generally seem to have higher levels of mobility, compared to the labour market at large. Although it is regarded as beneficial in theory, most cluster firms try to restrict mobility of workers since they fear the risk and costs of losing staff. Labour mobility is also rarely viewed as a viable way to increase the knowledge bases or contact networks of firms. However, when firms need to recruit the clustered labour markets seem to benefit them by facilitating the use of informal recruitment processes. By way of conclusion it is suggested that cluster firms might be under‐investing in mobility and that innovative institutional solutions could help realize clusters' mobility potential.     

Global and regional orders and the changing geopolitics of energy

Attention by international relations scholars to the transformation underway stemming from the rise of China has not been matched by that given to the transformation underway in the international energy system. This article looks at three dimensions of that transformation: the end of cheap oil and the rising trend of energy prices; the changing role of the traditional international oil companies and the rise of national oil companies; and the growing energy importance of the Middle East and Russia. It looks at how these changes have already affected or are likely to affect three strategic relationships: US-Middle East; US-China; and Europe-Russia-US. It concludes that more attention needs to be given by scholars to what will be major changes in global geopolitical relationships with considerable consequences for the foreign policies of the major powers.     

Translation Alignment: Actor‐Network Theory,Resistance, and the Power Dynamics of Alliance in New Caledonia

Abstract: This study of resistance to multinational mining in New Caledonia expands actor‐network theory's concept of translation by exploring ways that power dynamics affect alliances and the translations that both support and challenge them. Examining relationships among an indigenous protest group, environmentalist grassroots organizations, a human rights lawyer, the mining company, and the provincial government, I argue that power often requires alliances, mediated by compatible translations. However, if alliances are to succeed, at least temporarily, these translations must be made compatible through a process of translation alignment. Ironically, this alignment inevitably alters at least one of the translations, diminishing the power of the actor‐network that articulated it to achieve its original goals. This paper's findings also enhance radical geographical understandings of capitalism's infrastructure, as uneven development increasingly relies upon—yet finds it increasingly difficult to achieve—the alignment of local communities’ translations with those of the agents of industry.     

全球与地方的契合:权力与生产网络的二维治理

企业间关键资源的不均衡引致权力关系的不对称,强势企业得以领导以其为核心的企业网络。由于生产环节的组织和地域上的可分割性,居于权力优势地位的领先公司在全球招募企业组成生产网络。全球购买型领先公司通过外包与地方生产网络建立新的关系拓扑,地方生产网络的治理以全球商品链为纽带,嵌入到以领先公司为主导的全球价值链治理体系中。全球生产型领先公司跨境投资时无法将生产网络全盘复制,以其为主导的跨界生产网络的治理需要通过各种权力的博奕和管理上的互动来实现。     

How Do Local Knowledge Spillovers and Experience Affect Export Performance?

This research paper tries to analyse the role that knowledge about foreign markets has in increasing firms' exports in clustered spaces. We consider two interrelated sources of this knowledge, a firm's direct experience and its indirect experience from other clustered firms. In particular, it is proposed that firms can improve their export performance by accessing others' knowledge as long as they have some previous direct experience that allows them to identify, understand and exploit these. Nevertheless, this positive influence of previous direct experience on exports continues only to a certain point, at which time it becomes less relevant or even negative. Firms with broad international experience have little to learn from local interactions, being more enriching establishing relationships with agents from outside the cluster. Empirical evidence gathered from wine producers located in La Rioja, Spain, confirms the moderating but decreasing importance of previous experience.     

Strategic Alliances in Action: Toward a Theory of Evolution

The popularity and prevalence of strategic alliances for problem solving has been well documented in research on the corporate sector and public policy. However, there has been limited work to date on building a comprehensive theory about the evolutionary process of alliances. The purpose of this article is to synthesize current research on alliance development in order to develop a model of strategic alliance evolution. The theoretical model is built with ideas from prior research as well as findings from our own recent research on alliances in education. We conducted a national study of strategic alliances in charter schools focused on uncovering the process of evolution—including how alliances are initiated, operated, and evaluated—and the various internal and external factors that influence alliance development and progress. Our findings offer a model of strategic alliance evolution and provide direction for future research.     

The Role of Knowledge Intermediaries in Developing Firm Learning Capabilities

Regional innovation systems (RISs) literature has emphasized the critical role of interactive learning and knowledge exchange amongst firms and a variety of spatially connected innovation institutions as the foundation of regional innovation. Knowledge intermediaries have been analysed in terms of the technology-transaction services they provide firms and/or knowledge producers such as universities and therefore the role they play in facilitating interaction within the RIS. However, innovation also depends on the capability of the firm to learn. Some studies have suggested that intermediaries also play a role in that regard as participation in intermediary knowledge transfer programmes can contribute to the development of firm capabilities for problem-solving and learning. Our research is based on two case study intermediary programmes involving interviews with facilitators and participants. Our data show that knowledge intermediaries affect organizational learning capabilities by impacting on firms' network relationships, internal and external communication channels and internal learning processes which in turn affect the ability to interpret and use knowledge within the firm. This suggests that the role of knowledge intermediaries might be greater than facilitating interactions in the innovation system, as knowledge intermediation may affect the ability of firms to learn and absorb knowledge from their environment.     

Circular cities: exploring local government strategies to facilitate a circular economy

ABSTRACT

Cities are growing rapidly, and the systems of production and consumption that support this growth are contributing to the depletion of natural resources and pollution of the environment. The circular economy model offers an alternative to the predominant take-make-dispose economic system. Local municipalities are seen to have the capacity to encourage sustainable development of the built environment. This paper aims to explore the role of strategic planning in facilitating a circular economy in urban settings. In particular, this research asks: How are local governments facilitating circular economy initiatives through strategic planning? What are the opportunities and barriers when applying circular economy principles through local strategic planning? The research approach used for this paper is a comparative case study of two international municipalities: the City of Melbourne, Australia and the City of Malmö, Sweden. Current strategic planning practice was examined with a focus on circular economy themes. The findings reveal that strategic urban planning can translate circular economy objectives into actions within specific urban areas, although barriers still exist to fully integrating the circular economy model.     

Networking and learning for tourism innovation: evidence from the Western Cape

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the nature of networking and learning by tourism firms in relation to accessing knowledge for innovation. In particular, the nature of tourism learning and networking, geography of networking linkages, and systemic characteristics of relationships between tourism firms, government agencies, higher education institutions, and other organisations in the Western Cape tourism system are examined. The analysis draws on 182 tourism firm, tourism system, and contextual interviews. This investigation demonstrates that even though tourism firms mostly use internal resources for innovation, external, non-local knowledge is significant for enhancing novel innovation. It is disclosed that whilst local network linkages are dense, loose, and of importance for business and marketing purposes, extra-regional network relationships are imperative for learning in relation to innovation. As further observed, network linkages between local and regional actors for supporting tourism innovation in the Western Cape are generally weak which points to the underdevelopment of local and regional innovation networks or systems. The paper provides planning recommendations for enhancing the competitiveness of tourism firms towards fostering development and growth in the regional tourism economy. Specifically, support for stimulating learning networks as well as strengthening systemic relationships in the Western Cape tourism system are recommended. It is underscored that strategic relationships with non-local partners need to be nurtured towards fostering tourism innovation and enhancing regional competitiveness.     

Firm Heterogeneity in Biotech: Absorptive Capacity,Strategies and Local-Regional Connections

This paper focuses on the characteristics of biotech firms with various levels of research and development (R&D) activity. It is done by exploring the relationship between R&D intensity, alliances and the extent of regionalization of firms' activities using evidence from a survey of US-based biotechnology firms. We profile two firm prototypes: research-oriented firms and product-oriented firms, focusing on their characteristics, strategies and operations. These include activities devoted to exploration and exploitation through alliances with universities (more exploration) and with pharmaceutical companies (exploration and exploitation), and locational needs which facilitate both exploration and exploitation.