In modern, fast moving business environments it is crucial for established corporations to find new sources of innovativeness in order to secure their competitiveness and long-term survival. Startups could be such a new source of innovativeness. Unfortunately, it is difficult for startups and corporations to cooperate. Mostly, this is because of the companies’ organization and the different way they operate. To overcome this gap, corporations started to get engaged with business incubators. Even though this phenomenon can be observed in practice already, little research has been done to better understand the forms this collaboration could have or the motives leading to such a cooperation. By studying an incubator that is engaged with established companies in many different ways, various forms of relationships could be identified. Moreover, based on the descriptions of those types of collaboration and in depth interviews, the motives leading corporations and incubators to get involved in various ways could be identified. The empirical contribution of this thesis is to better understand how established corporations can get engaged with entrepreneurial activity and startups in particular.

Purpose: The study that has been conducted is a comparative one, where the group compared different innovation management strategies used by three different globally- known Swedish firms that are in the manufacturing industry. The study is aimed at describing, analyzing and making conclusions of the innovation strategies used during the process of product development in the chosen companies bycomparing their similarities and differences. Method: The Study was carried out using a comparative study drawing on the qualitative data. Conclusion: Volvo CE and ABB CRC have similar strategies in internal idea generation because both firms have formalized systems, by using strong online data bases for idea sharing and evaluation. Volvo CE uses a pronounced forum called “Innovation Jams” for online idea sharing among Volvo Group employees whereas ABB CRC uses a strong data base called “ABB Inside” to evaluate ideas within the group. On the other hand, Scania R&D’s internal idea generation process is more informal as it is based on “person-to-person”. When it comes to external idea generation, Scania R&D has a more established strategy of using suppliers and customers for inspiration of ideas. However, ABB CRC generates inspirations from customers through its business centers, whereas Volvo CE has no customer system in place. But one thing that is common in all the three companies is that they are highly collaborating with universities for idea generation and human resource.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第22026号 / 経博第603号 / 新制||経||290(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 矢野 剛, 教授 塩地 洋, 准教授 高野 久紀 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

Thesis advisor: Thomas Chemmanur / My doctoral dissertation consists of three chapters focused on topics in entrepreneurial finance and corporate innovation. In the first chapter, I analyze secondary market patent transactions from public assignors (seller firms) to assignees (buyer firms). I show that firms with higher innovation productivity (more able to innovate) but with lower production efficiency (less able to commercialize) are more likely to sell patents distant from their operations. Using a linked assignor-assignee dataset, I find that patents technologically closer to buyer than to seller firms are more likely to be sold in a patent transaction, implying gains from trading patents. I document that, in the three years following patent transactions, seller firms experience a positive and statistically significant improvement in their ROA and operating profitability. I find that the improvement in ROA and operating profitability is concentrated in seller firms which increase their R&D focus after patent transactions, suggesting that an increase in innovation focus is one of the channels driving these results. Consistent with this channel, I find that inventors who are either newly hired by or remaining in assignor firms over the three years subsequent to patent transactions have technological expertise more similar to those of assignor firms. In the second chapter, co-authored with Xi Chen, we study how venture capitalists (VCs) create value in the product market for the entrepreneurial firms backed by them. By constructing a novel dataset based on Nielsen Retail Scanner and VentureXpert, we document that, compared to non-VC-backed firms, VC-backed startups have more than doubled their sales and seized more nationwide market share in the five years following the first VC investment. A further decomposition indicates that VC-backed firms achieve the growth in sales and market share by lowering their product prices. In addition, subsequent to the first VC investment, VC-backed firms enlarge their product portfolios by introducing new products and establishing new product lines, and they expand their products to more stores and geographic locations. Using the limited partner return as an instrument for the supply of VC financing, we show that the above effects are causal. We document heterogeneous value creation effects of VC financing for firms with different market share and for firms with different geographic proximity to the lead VC investors. This suggests that, apart from providing capital, VCs also add value to startups by directing their marketing strategy and monitoring their operations. In the third chapter, co-authored with Thomas Chemmanur, Jiajie Xu, and Xiang Zheng, we analyze the effect of the composition of venture capital (VC) syndicates on value creation to the entrepreneurial firms they invest in. We hypothesize that VCs may learn about each other’s skills at value creation when they co-invest together in entrepreneurial firms, allowing for more efficient value creation when they co-invest in subsequent syndicates. Further, if VCs view syndication as a repeated game, this may generate incentives to co-operate to a greater extent with each other when investing together in a syndicate, reducing the probability of conflicts among VCs. We empirically analyze the implications of these hypotheses and find the following. First, prior collaboration between a lead VC and any of the VCs in a syndicate leads to greater short-term value creation, as evidenced by greater sales growth, employment growth, probability of patented innovation, and the quality of innovations generated during the three years subsequent to VC syndicate investment. Second, prior collaboration between the lead VC and at least one of the syndicate members leads to greater long-term value creation, as evidenced by the higher probability of a successful exit (IPO or acquisition). Third, if the prior collaboration is very successful (leading to an IPO exit resulting from the previous collaboration), then there is even greater value creation by the VC syndicate compared to the case where the prior collaboration was less successful. Finally, consistent with prior collaboration allowing VCs to learn about each other’s value creation skills and reducing potential conflicts among the VCs forming a syndicate, syndicates with prior collaboration between the lead VC and at least one syndicate member are characterized by more uniform syndicate compositions across financing rounds. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

In the first chapter, we assess the effect of changes of government ownership on corporate innovation activities. Across 58 non-US countries, treatment firms’ innovation, both in quantity and quality, decrease after a governmental acquisition by using a difference-in-difference regressions and propensity score matching. We show that there is conflict of interest between major shareholders and minor shareholders. The corporate innovation efficiency also decline after the government acquisition. We find that this negative relationship is more severe for the group with higher government ownership of banks, better creditor rights and worse stock market development. For second chapter, if the optimal capital structure exists, an overleveraged firm is expected to move towards the target structure by taking actions that would lower the leverage. Many previous studies, however, show that leverage-decreasing transactions, including offering stocks in exchange of bonds, are meted out with negative market reactions, suggesting deficiencies of the trade-off theory in explaining this phenomenon. In this paper we hypothesize and show that the negative market reactions might be attributed to incorrect rebalancing by poorly-governed firms in the under-leverage domain, who instead of increasing leverage are purposely engaged in leverage-reducing activities.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand How Corporate Innovation Hubs (CIHs) can Mitigate NIH and NSH Problems in Knowledge Transfer. To fulfill this purpose, the following research questions were derived: RQ1: What are the causes of NIH & NSH problems among actors collaborating through a CIH? RQ2: What are the consequences of NIH & NSH problems among actors collaborating through a CIH? RQ3: What mechanisms can a CIH use to mitigate NIH & NSH problems among collaborating actors? Method – The study is an explorative inductive multiple case-study, investigating five CIHs situated in either Silicon Valley, US or Gothenburg, Sweden. In total, 39 interviews were conducted in three waves, and results were derived using a Gioia analysis. Findings – This study resulted in a framework illustrating connections of causes and consequences of NIH and NSH problems with corresponding mitigating mechanisms. The most critical causes are Obsessive control (NIH), Internal antagonism (NIH) and Low confidential awareness (NSH). The most severe consequences are Use of irrelevant knowledge (NIH), Suffocation of external ideas (NIH) and Restrained problem-solving (NSH). The most important mitigating mechanisms are Translate relevance of ideas (NIH) and Create mutual confidential understanding (NSH). Theoretical and Practical Implications – This study contributes to the scarce literature on NIH and NSH problems among multiple actors collaborating through CIHs. By identifying causes, consequences and mitigating mechanisms of NIH and NSH problems, CIHs will be able to detect NIH and NSH tendencies among its collaborating actors, to mitigate its causes and prevent its consequences. Limitations and Future Research – The study is limited by the investigated CIHs focus on exploring future transportation solutions, indicating that future studies can investigate CIHs in other industry settings and among other actors collaborating through CIHs. Keywords: Corporate Innovation Hubs; NIH; NSH; Knowledge Transfer

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T18:41:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 19 / Nenhuma / Atualmente o tema da inovação vem sendo discutido intensamente na academia e no meio empresarial. Neste contexto o presente estudo propõe um modelo de SCI – Sistema Corporativo de Inovação estruturado a partir da literatura e das percepções do autor. Esse modelo é composto por oito variáveis: Conceitos/Objetivos, Estratégia, Estrutura Organizacional, Gestão da Inovação, Indicadores, Gestão do Conhecimento para Inovação, Comunicação e Relacionamento Externo. O teste do modelo foi realizado em uma empresa industrial que possui três subsistemas estruturados de inovação (P&D, SPF e Inovação Industrial). Cada um desses subsistemas possui objetivos, métodos e ferramentas específicas. A pesquisa foi realizada visando o entendimento desses subsistemas sob a ótica do SCI proposto. A conclusão do trabalho pode ser sintetizada em quatro tópicos: i) a utilização do modelo SCI permite a empresa realizar uma análise estruturada e sistêmica sobre a inovação; ii) o modelo SCI tendeu a mostrar-se coerente com a teoria consult / Currently the subject of innovation has been intensely discussed in the academy and in the business environment. In this context the present study suggest a model of CIS - Corporate Innovation System structuralized from the literature and from the author perspectives. This model consists in eight variables: Concepts/Objectives, Strategy, Organization Structure, Innovation Management, Indicators, Knowledge Management for Innovation, Communication and External Relationship. The test of the model was carried through an industrial company that has three structuralized subsystems of innovation (P&D, SPF and Industrial Innovation). Each one of these subsystems has objectives, methods and specific tools. The research was made willing the understanding of these subsystems under the view of the CIS suggested. The conclusion of the work can be summarized in four topics: i) the use of the CIS model allows the company to do a structured and systematical analysis of the innovation; ii) the model CIS tended to reveal cohe

This study examines the relationship between R&D intensity (R&D/sales) and firm value. Additionally, both the moderating effect of endogenous firm characteristics (i.e. firm size, leverage and the interaction between size and leverage) and institutional quality are considered. By employing a sample of 1,833 firms throughout 49 countries, this study finds evidence supporting a positive association between R&D and firm value in its cross-national sample. Moreover, the results support the positive moderating effect of leverage on the relationship between R&D and firm value, in favour of the disciplining role of debt. Furthermore, a negative moderating effect of firm size is found, suggesting that smaller firms possess a superior ability to appropriate value from their R&D investments. Lastly, the size-leverage interaction reveals that small firms with high leverage reap the greatest firm value from their R&D investments.

Background: Corporate accelerators (CAs) are a relatively new phenomenon and increasingly used by corporates to increase their level of innovation. However, there are still no best practices on how these CA programs can be structured more efficiently in order to serve the needs of startups and corporates simultaneously. Here, most extant research focuses on the general goals of CA programs and the definition of certain core elements and features which describe a CA (i.e. provision of coworking space; educational programs), while disregarding the objectives of the startups participating. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how current CA programs can be improved, by analyzing the experiences and perspectives of both corporates and startups. It aims to identify, how CA programs can be more successful for corporates and startups. Method: To satisfy the purpose of this qualitative study, an exploratory research approach was selected and a multi-case research strategy applied. Data was gathered through in-depth, semi-structured expert interviews with five managers and three participants of accelerator programs managed by leading multinational corporates. Through a content analysis, we built new theory based on our findings. Conclusion: This study shed light on current difficulties that arise in CA programs such as internal politics and bureaucracy, internal communication, corporate rigidities, and the important tasks of CA managers navigating those issues. Our study contributes to research on CAs by (1) emphasizing current barriers of CAs; (2) presenting suggestions for creating more successful CAs; (3) showing how CA managers can foster interactions between corporate business units and startups: and (4) creating the SET CA model.

Radical innovation is a term with different definitions and divided experiences. From both a theoretical and practical manner, larger organizations seem to perform radical innovation less. This research is further looking into corporation strategies and the dimensions of internal factors of radical innovation. The aim is to find activities and circumstances that can enhance radical innovation and bring more frequent behavior in corporations. The research performs as a comparative study to reveal facilitations and patterns of radical innovation processes in different organizations. This study will compare perspectives of the organizations themselves to both earlier studies and shared insights of an included innovation consultancy firm that is giving their experience on the performance of radical innovation. Likewise, the research will investigate the limitations the organizations find in how and why radical innovations are not as frequent as incremental ones. The outcome of this research is to theoretically provide an alternative approach in the innovation field by researching comparatively. Practically, the research aims to extend knowledge of radical innovation and create a framework that can work as a supportive tool for future business projects and the implementation of more radical innovations.