With the gradual expansion of China's economy, the demand for innovation and growth of China’s companies is increasing. Traditional internal research and development (R&D) and iterative product and service development are no longer sufficient to meet the fierce market competition. More and more companies are seeking breakthrough growth of overall technology, brand, and service. Therefore, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) have become a common business activity for China’s companies. The motivation of company’s M&A is complex, and as M&A laws in China and worldwide become more complicated, how to make rational and rapid M&A that can achieve strategic upgrading of enterprises has become a research issue of concern for Chinese economic, financial, accounting, and legal disciplines, etc. As a basic industry, Chinese pharmaceutical industry has not yet taken a dominant position in the world. Due to the intertwining of multiple disciplines and complex background information, the impact of M&A transaction size on the innovation performance of pharmaceutical companies has yet to be studied.Focusing on the two hot spots: M&A and innovation, in the context of China's economic transformation and upgrading, this dissertation explores the impact of M&A on innovation based on the current situation analysis and theoretical analysis, and deeply studies and reveals the mechanism and effect of M&A transaction size on company innovation. 281 M&A data of 58 listed companies in China's healthcare industry from 2008 to 2017 was collected and regression analysis was performed to examine the impact of M&A transaction size on the innovation level of companies in terms of two aspects: the number of patent applications and the number of patents granted, and on three levels: invention patents, utility model patents and design patents. The results of the research show that: M&A transaction size promotes the growth of the number of patent applications and patents granted and has a significant positive effect on enterprise innovation; and M&A transaction size has contributed to the increase of the number of utility model patent applications and patents granted. In general, the innovation performance of M&A transaction size in utility model patents is better than that in invention patents with higher technological elements. Further mechanism examination results show that the innovation performance of a company after a bigger M&A transaction is influenced by its absorptive capacity: the stronger its absorptive capacity, the more opportunities it has to absorb and transform the technologies and knowledge of an acquired enterprise into its own. Through learning and imitation, it realizes the transformation and innovation of the technologies obtained through M&A, ultimately enhancing its innovation capability. / Business Administration/Finance

[pt] O propósito da pesquisa descrita foi investigar o recente fenômeno da criação de aceleradoras de startups digitais por empresas brasileiras de grande porte, uma tendência no mercado brasileiro e global. Apesar de existir bastante literatura acerca do tema de inovação corporativa, poucos autores estudaram o envolvimento entre corporações e startups através da implementação de aceleradoras corporativas, já que este é um modelo bastante recente, tanto no Brasil quanto no exterior. Por isso, este estudo busca entender que motivações estão por trás do investimento neste modelo, quais os benefícios percebidos por empresas que já o desenvolveram e quais os ajustes necessários no modelo de aceleração corporativa. Para tal, os únicos dois casos existentes de aceleradoras de startups lançadas por corporações brasileiras de grande porte foram analisados. Foram conduzidas entrevistas em profundidade com os gestores responsáveis pelas atividades de inovação e pela criação das aceleradoras corporativas dentro de cada organização, de forma a identificar diretamente da fonte os principais problemas existentes na realização de atividades de inovação anteriores e as motivações que levaram as empresas à escolha deste novo modelo de envolvimento com iniciativas digitais nascentes. O estudo identificou que as corporações possuem dificuldade em inovar devido à falta de alinhamento de expectativas internas, principalmente de retorno financeiro, e ao engessamento da estrutura corporativa, que reduz a velocidade de atividades ligadas à inovação. Existem, por outro lado, fortes motivações para alterar o modelo de atuação e a forma de se pensar a inovação por meio da implementação de aceleradoras corporativas, como a necessidade de acompanhar melhor as tendências do mercado, a crescente importância da presença no ambiente digital para melhorar as relações com os clientes, a influência do envolvimento anterior da liderança das organizações com empreendedorismo e a existência de modelos já comprovados fora do Brasil. Apesar de as aceleradoras corporativas ainda estarem em estágio inicial e não apresentarem resultados significativos, é possível identificar claramente os benefícios esperados pelas organizações. Alguns já estão mais presentes, como a melhora da imagem institucional das organizações devido ao investimento em inovação. Por outro lado, os principais benefícios esperados, como a transformação cultural da empresa e o retorno financeiro dos investimentos realizados, ainda não são uma realidade. Percebe-se, dessa forma, que as aceleradoras corporativas ainda não contaminam de forma suficientemente forte as organizações, principalmente por não possuírem o nível de exposição adequado aos profissionais que não estão diretamente envolvidos na sua operação. As aceleradoras corporativas surgem como uma nova opção de envolvimento com startups, de forma a unir a velocidade de execução e a flexibilidade de empresas tecnológicas de pequeno porte com a capacidade de escala, a experiência e o financiamento de grandes corporações. Estas estruturas possibilitam que elas desenvolvam uma operação de inovação independente da sua influência, libertando o desenvolvimento de novas ideias e projetos do engessamento dos processos e regras corporativos. Dessa forma, é possível agregar valor à organização tanto com o desenvolvimento de novos negócios quanto com a geração de complementadores para produtos e serviços já existentes, melhorando o posicionamento estratégico da empresa no ambiente competitivo. / [en] The purpose of this study is to investigate the recent phenomenon of creation of digital accelerators by large Brazilian corporations, a trend in the Brazilian and global market. Although there is much literature available on the subject of corporate innovation, few authors have studied the involvement of corporations and startups through the implementation of corporate accelerators, since this is a fairly recent model, both in Brazil and abroad. Therefore, this study seeks to understand what motivations are behind the investment in this model, which benefits are expected by companies that have developed it and what adjustments are needed in the corporate acceleration model. To this end, the only two existing cases of accelerator of startups launched by large Brazilian corporations were analyzed. Depth interviews were conducted with the managers responsible for innovation activities and for the creation of the corporate accelerator within each organization, in order to identify directly from the source the main problems in the implementation of past innovation activities and the motivations that led the companies to choose this new model of engagement with new digital ventures. The study identified that corporations have difficulty to innovate due to lack of alignment of internal expectations, especially of financial return, and the inflexibility of the corporate structure, which reduces the speed of activities related to innovation. There are, moreover, strong motivations to change the operating model and the way of thinking innovation through the implementation of corporate accelerators such as the need to better monitor the market trends, the growing importance of presence in the digital environment in order to improve relations with customers, the influence of previous involvement with entrepreneurship by the leadership of organizations, and the existence of proven models outside Brazil. Although corporate accelerators are still at an early stage and do not present significant results, it is possible to clearly identify the benefits expected by the organizations. Some already exist, such as the improvement of the institutional image of the organizations due to investment in innovation. On the other hand, the main benefits expected, as the cultural transformation of the company and the financial return on investment, are still not a reality. It is clear, therefore, that corporate accelerator has not contaminate strongly enough these organizations, mainly because they lack the appropriate exposure level for professionals who are not directly involved in its operation. Corporate accelerators emerge as a new option of involvement with startups, putting together the speed of execution and flexibility of small technology companies with the ability to scale, experience and deep pockets of large corporations. These structures enable them to develop an independent innovation operation that is not impacted by its influence, freeing the development of new ideas and projects from immobilization processes and business rules. Thus, it is possible to add value to the organization both with the development of new business and the generation of complementers to existing products and services, improving the strategic positioning of the company in the competitive environment.

Over the past 15 years, technological change has introduced an unprecedented amount of competition in the global marketplace. Large corporations are at risk of disruption by global competitors, particularly the start-up community. In today’s highly competitive environment, the goal of every business is to get ahead: this is known as ‘competitive advantage.’ One way to foster competitive advantage is through innovation—the process of change, be it a new product, idea, or method. It can mean adapting the work environment to deliver an improved service or altering the business model. Large corporations are scalable business models by design. When a company establishes a successful business model, it monetizes that model to the fullest extent, supporting the model via corporate structures, processes, tools, and cultures. These companies now face a conundrum: the policies and procedures that make them efficient also stifle innovation, which is critical to business success in today’s ultra-competitive and ever-changing market. Large companies find it especially challenging to innovate successfully within the confines of massive, bureaucratic operational structures. Since most companies are designed to deliver under their current structures, any innovation that requires a change in business model or approach requires structural changes within the company. “Intrapreneurship,” also known as corporate entrepreneurial behaviour, has the potential to resolve the issues of innovation in large corporations. Intrapreneurship is a major competitive differentiator: benefits include increased economic growth, greater efficiency, the ability to manage change effectively, greater employee engagement and development, the ability to attract and retain entrepreneurial leaders, and sustainable growth. However, organizations are not aware of how to cultivate an intrapreneurial environment. In fact, organizations often unintentionally cultivate the opposite, by adopting risk-adverse policies, limiting corporate experimentation. The extant literature examines intrapreneurship at a firm level; however, there is limited literature identifying intrapreneurial traits at an employee level. It is these employee traits and behaviours that enable organizations to act intrapreneurially, resulting in value creation for organizations. Leadership engagement as it relates to intrapreneurship is also an area that is under researched. The support of leaders in innovation efforts is crucial for intrapreneurial employees to thrive and take ideas from a place of conception to implementation. This study takes a qualitative, approach, including semi-structured interviews of employees of a large technological firm and five semi-structured interviews with executives from media, technology, and finance industries. This research identifies specific traits of employees of intrapreneurial employees, including their behaviours and attributes. This research places the employee at the heart of the organization while positioning leaders and cultural elements on the periphery. It identifies curiosity, skilled risk taking, and experimentation as core intrapreneurial traits. This study also identifies the traits and behaviours of successfully intrapreneurial organizations and the role that leadership plays in supporting and developing intrapreneurial environments and cultures. Leadership has significant and positive relations with both empowerment and an innovation-supporting organizational climate. Top managers' leadership style has been identified as being one of the most important factors—if not the most important—when it comes to driving innovation. The findings from this research indicate that leaders need to play more of an active role in developing intrapreneurial activity. They need to evolve their role into shepherds who guide intrapreneurs in navigating the corporate immune systems. This research also evolves the conceptual framework of Antoncic and Hisrich (2001) by adding employee traits and leadership as new paradigms.

77 leaves single side printed, preliminary pages i-v and numbered pages 1-72. Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores how to bring about change through innovation by using current power structures to move towards a more sustainable society. The type of change we are concerned with is the transformation from social structures, economic systems and institutions which diminish natural resources; to systems of production, institutions and social structures which affirm and interact productively with living systems, assuring their own sustainability. This change cannot be limited to address the social, environmental and economic consequences of the current system but should redefine the basic principles of society’s design and operation. One of the key actors in the current system are Multinational Corporations (MNCs) which have the capacity to mobilize natural resources, labour, and financial capital at a global scale. It is defined that to contribute proactively towards sustainability, the role of the corporation is to innovate in its core business, creating products and services that help to solve the current un-sustainability patterns of society. However, how effective are targeted innovation platforms within MNC’s in designing and implementing meaningful innovations for sustainability? How meaningful are these innovation efforts in terms of the broader CSR strategy of the company and its sustainability performance? What can we learn from business innovation platforms in terms of organization and entrepreneurship for sustainability? In order to answer these questions an action research method was used in which I reflect on my own experience of using the innovation platform from the Royal Dutch Shell Group (Shell) to develop sustainability innovations. Within this perspective, the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is re-visited to highlight its potential to hinder or facilitate this process. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:Hierdie tesis ondersoek hoe verandering met innovasie te weeg gebring kan word deur gebruikmaking van huidige magstrukture om sodoende te beweeg na ’n meer volhoubare gemeenskap. Die verandering waarmee ons gemoeid is, is die transformasie van sosiale strukture, ekonomiese stelsels en instansies - wat natuurlike hulpbronne verminder - na stelsels van produksie, asook instellings en sosiale strukture wat regstel en produktief wisselwerk met lewenskragtige stelsels om sodoende hulle eie volhoubaarheid te verseker. Hierdie verandering kan geensins beperk word om die sosiale, omgewings en ekonomiese gevolge van die huidige stelsel aan te spreek nie, maar behoort die basiese beginsels van die gemeenskap se ontwerp en optrede te herdefinieer. Een van die sleutelspelers in die huidige stelsel is die Multinasionale Korporasies (‘MNCs’) wat oor die vermoë beskik om natuurlike hulpbronne, arbeid en geldelike kapitaal op globale skaal te mobiliseer. Om pro-aktief tot volhoubaarheid by te dra, moet die rol van die korporasie – volgens definisie – van so ’n aard wees dat hy in sy kern-sakebedrywighede innoverend optree om produkte en dienste te skep wat sal bydra om die huidige nie-volhoubare patrone binne die gemeenskap uit te skakel. Maar hoe doeltreffend is geteikende innovasie-platforms binne die Multinasionale Korporasies egter vir soverre dit die ontwerp en toepassing van betekenisvolle innovasies betref wat op volhoubaarheid gerig is? Hoe betekenisvol is dié pogings rondom innovasie gemeet teen die breër strategie van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid van die maatskappy en sy volhoubaarheidsprestasie? Wat kan ons van innovasie-platforms van sakeondernemings met betrekking tot organisasie en entrepreneurskap - gerig op volhoubaarheid - wys word? Met die oog op die beantwoording van hierdie vrae, is ’n aksie-navorsingsmetode gebruilc, waarin ek besin oor my eie ondervinding met die gebruik van innovasieplatforms van die Royal Dutch Shell Group (Shell) om volhoubaarheidsinnovasies te ontwikkel. Binne hierdie perspektief word weer gekyk na die konsep van korporatiewe sosiale verantwoordelikheid om sodoende sy potensiaal om dié proses te kortwiek of te fasiliteer, uit te lig.

“[A]s much as any other product, the car has shaped not only the global economy but how billions of people live”1,whilethe digital area is nowshapingthe car.Coopetition, a strategy presenting firms with the opportunity to collaborate and compete at the same time,is becoming a prevalent phenomenonamong large OEMs and start-ups in the automotive industry.Respectively, considering that coopetition, in the context of open innovation and new technologies, has been identified as a successful strategy, this thesis will therefore analyse the relationship between OEMs and external start-ups in the context of coopetition and corporate open innovation strategies. Several typesof corporate incubators, accelerators and corporate innovation labs emerged within the last years, howeveran integration of all three of these has not yet been widely explored. Accordingly, while these open innovation streamsare used by large corporationsto get access to the start-upecosystemand increase their innovation capabilities, the relationship between OEMs and external start-ups will further lead to CIIAs (a combined approach of corporate incubators, corporate innovation labs and corporate accelerators),demonstratedin the context of coopetition. This exploratory study therebycontributes to the relationship between external start-ups and OEMsthrough aCIIA approach,answering the two following researchquestions;•What are the main drivers of the OEM and external start-uprelationship?•How do OEMs and external start-ups coopete in the context of corporate open innovation strategies?To dulyanswer these research questions, we choseaqualitative researchmethodcombined with an interpretivist and inductiveapproachas well asempirical findings generated from 6semi-structured interviews. We furthercontributed tothe illustrationof the key aspects of CIIAsas well asthe motives, management and implications behind the relationshipsbetween OEMs and external start-upsbyaconceptual framework. Our analysishence showsthe significanceof the access to complementary resources, the co-creation and co-development of value as well as the systematic implementation of a proof of conceptin the light of thesecoopetitive relationshipsbetween CIIAs and external start-ups.However, consideringthat thisresearch has been based on the German automotive industry only, it will require further research in other contexts, sectors or countries. To conclude, thisthesis contributes tothe management literature ofcoopetition, corporate innovation and entrepreneurship. We proposeda finalframeworkto highlightthekey motives, the management and the implications behind thecoopetitive relationshipsbetween OEMsand external start-upsthrough the CIIA platform.This willexpectedly help managers and entrepreneurs develop efficientmanagement techniques as well asfurther recognize and understand the influential dynamicspresent in these relationships

The business environment is constantly being challenged with growing complexity and rapid changes, usually unforeseeable, as it could be observed during the last decades. One topic growing intensively in importance is environmentally sustainable business practices, which are often driven by societal expectations and new regulations; and which, under the enormous pressure of external stakeholders, cannot be avoided by companies anymore. Circular Economy, a relatively new concept, is becoming more popular, offering businesses not only a competitive advantage, but also the possibility to operate profitably, while still contributing to a sustainable development. This thesis provides insights on how MNCs with linear business models can take advantage of dynamic capabilities in order to incorporate circular business strategies. Current literature lacks research about the connection of how dynamic capabilities can support companies with the implementation of Circular Economy principles. Startups often implement sustainable strategies from inception, but: how can traditional MNCs of complex character successfully innovate their business models and strategies, without major disruption and losing their profitability? We argue that not only these young and born circular companies will lead the markets in the future, but also existing MNCs can successfully develop and stay competitive. This study wants also to highlight what resources and capabilities both types of companies state as key for successful circular business strategies, and how they are handled and embedded in the organizational structure by managers. A qualitative case study approach provided the detailed necessary information (from different industries and degree of circularity) to address the question. The findings widen the research of business model innovation towards circular business strategies and show a clear picture of which dynamic capabilities are of importance and how they can be successfully incorporated. We conclude by indicating that the concepts of learning, knowledge, relationships, leadership and management style were perceived as the most decisive within the organizations; with remaining external barriers as challenging.

The problem that most, if not all, large companies deal with in one way or another, is to stay relevant and competitive as their industry evolves. They need to keep improving their current services or products but still need to keep their eyes open for disruption. This requires them to make long-term investments in research and development, which does not always result in a quick return. To stay relevant, corporations need to increase corporate innovation. Research on collaboration between startups and corporations has grown substantially in recent years, but there is a gap in academic literature focusing on the barriers of these collaborations. This qualitative study focuses on what perspective Icelandic corporate managers have towards collaborating with startups as part of their corporate innovation. To accomplish that, eight semi- structured interviews with top-level managers from large corporations were conducted. It was clear that all interviewees were very positive about collaborating with startups even though most of them had little or no experience from doing so themselves. Icelandic companies seem to be reluctant to invest the required time and resources it takes for these collaborations to be successful because of the lack of successful examples in Iceland so far. This research only looked at the barriers and benefits from the perspective of top-level managers in large corporations but future research could include the perspective of startups as well.

Incubators have become a popular way for corporations to stay in front of their competition because,y pos today´s startups are an immense spring of innovation as many possess emerging innovation. These corporate incubators offer the startups a support system where they can test and leapfrog their innovations, and add innovation to the corporations. However, there is a large difference between these two parties, which makrs successful collaboration a challenge.  This study examines how to improve this collaboration based on information obtained through an embedded case study of a large corporate incubator and startups present within it. The main findings suggest three important factors for a large enterprise to gain the most value out of their incubators: (1) clear communication, (2) startups need to know what their  objective is, and (3) incubator support from the organization. To leverage startup innovation in a corporate incubator and to attain these three factors, three building blocks for a corporate incubator have been identified: selection process, case building, and graduation. / Inkubatorer har blivit ett populärt sätt för företag att vara konkurrenskraftiga eftersom dagens startups är en enorm källa av innovation. Dessa företagsinkubatorer erbjuder startups ett supportsystem där de kan testa och accelerera deras innovationsprocess och erbjuda innobation till företagen. Men, det är emellertid en stor skillnad mellan dessa två parter, vilket gör ett framgångsrikt samarbete till en utmaning.  Denna studie undersöker hur man kan förbättra detta samarbete baserat på information som erhållits genom en fallstudie av en stor företagsinkubator och dess startups. Resultatet av denna fallstudie är tre viktiga faktorer som behövs för att ett företag ska få ut det mesta av deras inkubator. (1) Tydlig kommunikation, (2) medvetenhet från startups av vad de behöver och (3) inkbatorstöd från hela företaget. För att utnyttja den innovation som startups tillför och för att uppnå dessa tre faktorer, tre delar av processen för en företafsinkubator identifierades: Urvalsprocessen, sammarbetsfasen och examen.