<div> <p>In this dissertation, I investigate how entrepreneurial ventures and industry incumbents enter into interorganizational relationships in the context of corporate venture capital (CVC) investments. In Essay 1, drawing from the literature on employee mobility and entrepreneurship, I investigate how the competitive tension between spinouts and their parent firms with regard to potential knowledge diffusion influences other industry incumbents’ decisions to invest in spinouts. Specifically, I suggest that a high level of technological overlap between a spinout and its parent firm deters other industry incumbents from investing in the spinout due to anticipated hostile actions by the parent firm. Moreover, such negative effects can be amplified when the parent firm has a strong litigiousness to claim its intellectual property rights. I also consider that the negative effects can be mitigated when industry incumbents expect to benefit from gaining indirect access to parent firms’ technological knowledge through investing in spinouts.</p><p><br></p> <p>In Essay 2, I focus on academic hybrid entrepreneurs—defined as individuals who found their own ventures while working at academic institutions (e.g., professors, scientists)—and investigate how their intended exit strategy influences their decisions regarding CVC financing. Specifically, I first propose that academic hybrid entrepreneurs may have strong preferences for acquisitions over initial public offerings as an exit strategy for their ventures because of the high level of opportunity/switching costs associated with transitioning between their academic roles and entrepreneurial activities. Drawing from the literature on mergers and acquisitions, I then suggest that compared to other ventures, those founded by academic hybrid entrepreneurs are more likely to receive funding from CVC investors to effectively disclose the quality of their resources and knowledge to potential acquirers.</p><p><br></p> <p>In Essay 3, I examine how the industry incumbents’ relative positions in technology domains vis-à-vis other firms influence their CVC investment activities. Drawing upon the literature on factor market, I conceptualize CVC investments as external knowledge acquisition activities in knowledge factor markets consisting of several different technology domains. Building on this conceptualization, I emphasize that industry incumbents’ choices of investment areas are dependent on their positions vis-à-vis their rival investors in a given technology domain. This is because a firm’s technology position in a given domain can simultaneously influence the opportunities and incentives that jointly determine the likelihood of CVC investments in the domain. The theoretical arguments and empirical results suggest that firms with intermediate technology positions (i.e., technology intermediates) with moderate levels of opportunities and incentives are more likely to make CVC investments than are technology laggards and leaders with the lowest levels of opportunities and incentives, respectively.</p></div>

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With constant technological advancements, the attacks against existing infrastructure is constantly increasing and causing more damage. The current Red and Blue team approach to cybersecurity assessments is used to test the effectiveness of security defenses and in identifying vulnerabilities before they are exploited. Due to a lack of collaboration and inherently contradicting natures of these teams, the credibility of audits is impacted. While this has led to the synergistic and collaborative Purple team, it is important to understand how cybersecurity professionals perceive this new concept and its function. Analyzing perceptions of self-reported cybersecurity professionals via an online survey showed most believed Purple teams were beneficial and should be created from and collaborate with Red and Blue teams. However, past Red team experience was negatively linked to perceived benefit. Those who had more years of experience or had been on Red teams were more likely to believe Purple teams may have ownership or learning issues. Furthermore, professionals identified active managerial involvement and project clarity as critical success factors for Purple teams. Alongside these, management could help find the right skillset, provide resources, and offer active direction in order to avoid issues and maximize outcomes. Based on assessment relevance, a collaborative agreed-upon methodology for Red, Blue, and Purple teams was provided.

Safety is the top priority for the aviation industry and a safe airport environment is essential to aviation safety. However, due to the increasing prevalence of UAS in recent years, UAS sightings have become a potential threat to airports. When UAS appear in the vicinity of airports, they bring safety concerns and result in negative operational and economic impacts on airports. Since the FAA’s mission is to provide the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world, further research regarding the threat of UAS sightings to airports is needed. The purpose of this study is to investigate the threat of UAS to airports and in the national airspace system (NAS). This study includes three primary components: the analysis of 6,551 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) UAS sighting reports, a case study of the impacts of the UAS sighting at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) on January 22, 2019, and a synthesis of airport operator perspectives based on interviews with airport personnel at five airports. The analysis of UAS sighting reports shows the characteristics of UAS sightings, the case study on EWR UAS illustrates the impact of the UAS sighting at the airport, and interview results illustrate the current perspective of airport operators regarding the risk of UAS. Along with the results, the scientific methods of identifying and analyzing the characteristics of UAS sightings in controlled airspace close to airports could be used by researchers to study UAS sightings in the future. Findings from this study may be beneficial to multiple stakeholders, including airport personnel, regulators, entrepreneurs, and vendors in the aviation industry. <br>

<p>This dissertation examines the implications of digitization for firm corporate strategy and organizational governance. I aim to link together emerging research on platform businesses and classic corporate strategy research on firm scale, scope and organization, two important streams of work that have remained largely independent despite the close connection between them. To do so, my dissertation revolves around the following central question: How can platform owners leverage governance mechanisms to alleviate market frictions, and what are the performance outcomes? </p><p><br></p> <p>In the first chapter, using game-theoretic formal models, I analyze how long standing information frictions are alleviated by digital platforms through developing capabilities for solving these information problems and exploiting synergies between those capabilities. In the second chapter, using data from online peer-to-peer lending, I show that platform owners can mitigate problems of information asymmetry in platform markets and enhance market effectiveness through allocation of key decision rights among participants. Finally, in the third chapter, using data from mobile apps, I show that platform gatekeeping serves as a screening mechanism for platform owners and how it can shape the different ways app developers profit from innovation. </p><p><br></p><p>Collectively, my dissertation aims to advance corporate strategy research in two ways. First, my research broadens the application of theories of organizational governance core to corporate strategy to a new organizational form – platforms – and I show that core tenets of the theories still apply, although the specific empirical mechanisms might take a different form in the platform context (e.g., decision rights allocated between the platform owner and complementors, rather than between the corporate office and business units). Second, my research stands to expand existing theories in corporate strategy through a sharp focus on organization and governance features that are unique to platforms – such as by studying the orchestrating role of the platform owner (e.g., through gatekeeping, platform owner can control complementors' platform access and shape their value-creation activities on the platform), and the multi-layer relationships prevalent in platforms (e.g., relationships between the platform owner and complementors, between complementors on the same side, and between complementors across two or more sides).</p>

In this study, the researchers illuminated the positive advantages of incorporating augmented reality (AR) technology into the daily practices of service engineers working in an advanced manufacturing environment. AR technology improved the user’s communication with colleagues and content experts through real-time video conferencing and brought valuable information directly to the user on a mobile platform. This effective communication had the potential to reduce the time it takes to complete a work task, even when the user is in a remote location. However, it could not be assumed that people would be willing to use this new technology just because it was available. In order to promote the positive advantages of incorporating AR technology into the daily practices of service engineers, more research was needed to assess the user’s perceived value of AR technology and their willingness to accept AR technology into their daily tasks. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate the advantages of using augmented reality technology to improve communication and access to information as well as to assess the acceptance and use of this technology based on the behavioral intentions of a trained engineer. Using that information and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology including its extensions (UTAUT and UTAUT2) (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003; Venkatesh, 2012) this research determined if AR technology is viable for larger scale adoption.

As digital transformation and Industry 4.0 have become a path for organizations to strengthen their performance, create value and acquire competitive advantages in different industries and regions, its appeal has increased among companies from diverse sectors and government institutions in the Colombian economy, but limited generalizability and replicability has been found in current models, which pose difficulties for their translation into the Colombian shipyard industry. Thus, this research study assessed the pertinence of utilizing digital transformation and industry 4.0 technologies as an enabler for the achievement of organizational goals, while focusing on the Colombian shipyard industry. To do so, a case study with mixed methods approach was utilized to collect data from interviews and surveys with the members of a Colombian Shipyard; which after applying analytical procedures and techniques, yielded the existence of an alignment between the Industry 4.0 and the achievement of their operational goals, as well as the identification of the strengths, challenges and implications of deploying digital technologies and a digital transformation strategy for a Colombian shipyard. Moreover, this study contributed to the understanding of digital transformation processes in relation to the specific characteristic, metrics, and factors of the Colombian shipyard industry, and it is a step forward into the further development of applications within different Colombian sectors by academics and practitioners in the field.