This study seeks to explain the reasons behind why first-mover advantage is unsustainable in emerging industries. For the purpose of study, four companies in two different industries, namely TFT-LCD backlight module and magnesium alloy enclosure manufactures are categories into two groups based on their entrance position (first-movers and latecomers). Since traditional strategies are much harder to use when analyzing industries undergoing rapid change, thus the concept of fitness landscape is used. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1) Although first-movers advantages exists in mature, stable industry, however, the fast changing nature of emerging industries meant that traditional notions are unfeasible. 2) Four important, inter-related factors determine the possibility of latecomer to overcome first-mover advantages, they are i) the growing market, ii) late entry, iii) revolutionary technology, and iv) focused product strategy. 3) Ever-changing business environment, fitness landscape, meant that static strategies are no longer feasible. The affect of every decision have direct implications for the industry at large, thus changing the landscape. Therefore, constant awareness and mobility are most important to survive in emerging industries.

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Facing a highly competitve environment, companies usually manipulate all kinds of strategies to succeed in their business. One of these manipulative strategies is the timing of entering the market. For the most past, studies on timing of entry have asserted that early entrants could help to build lasting competitive advantages, which is so called the ¡§first-mover advantages.¡¨ However, in recent studies, studies have proved that some late movers could also perform quite well, or even better than those early movers in the market. In this paper, we focus exclusively on those successful late movers and try to figure out how they win a victory over the first mover in the market. We also adopt both the RBV and social capital theory to interpret the process of building late-mover advantages and forming first-mover disadvantages. The paper utilizes the case of TFT-LCD industry and the wholesaling industry in Taiwan to illustrate the issues involved. After interviewing some top managers and analyze related data, we get five discoveries: (1)The resources and social capital of a company do affect its enrty timing. (2)Different industries would have different kind of key resources and social capitals, and the reason for late-movers to beat first-movers and to win in the last is because late-movers could allot its own resources more effectively. (3)Late-mover advantages and first-mover disadvantages are proved to exist in the market. Besides, the content of different industries and companies would be different, too. (4)"High uncertainty of the market¡¨ is the challenge that first-movers are sure to encounter, but what counts is that whether the first-mover could conquer this problem by using its own resources successfully or not. (5)The relationship of resources and (dis)advantages are not only one way direction. Companies¡¦ resources would affect its own (dis)advantages, and on the other hand, (dis)advantages would also turn back to affect the forming of its own resources.

In this dissertation, I strive to enhance our understanding of the effect of entry timing on firm performance using both empirical and formal modeling techniques. I accomplish this through addressing three major unanswered issues in entry timing research. In the first essay of my dissertation, I theoretically examine the effect of selection bias on entry timing associated performance outcomes via the introduction of a novel concept called First-mover Benefits (FMB) which is both theoretically and empirically distinct from the traditional First-mover Advantages (FMA) concept. The second essay of my dissertation empirically investigates this distinction in a unique entrepreneurial setting: the marijuana retailing industry in the State of Washington. The randomized order of entry into the geographically separate jurisdictions in Washington State via the lottery system gives me the opportunity to look at the overlooked effects of two key macrocontingencies: market growth rate and rivalry intensity without any selection bias concern. The main result of this essay indicates that pioneering advantages are more likely to be found in markets with higher level of rivalry intensity. My final essay focuses on the sustainability dimension of pioneering advantage. Taking advantage of the Washington State marijuana retailing industry dataset that eliminates the selection bias issue, I examine how long entry timing associated performance benefits are sustained in this nascent industry context. I find that pioneering advantages last for only four quarters. Overall, this dissertation helps partially resolve the longstanding controversy surrounding the potential effect of entry timing on performance.

This paper is about the central role of product design on consumer evaluations. While the design literature has articulated two different types of design, i.e. form-based design and function-based design (Khalid 2004), most extant marketing literature has mostly focused on the impact of functional design on performance (see Chitturi, Raghunathan, and Mahajan (2007) for a notable exception). In this paper, I examine the individual and joint effects of the two design dimensions: form design and functional design on consumer evaluations of new products. In the first essay, employing theoretical underpinnings from processing fluency theory, I investigate four major research questions. First, all else equal, does form design matter? Second, how does form design interact with functional design? Third, does the interaction between form and functionality change in an innovation context? Specifically, given a certain level of functionality, what type of form is more advantageous for a radically new product (RNP) or an incrementally new product (INP)? Fourth, is there an individual difference in consumer evaluations to innovative products with various form designs? Results from the four experiments conducted demonstrate that (1) more typical form design leads to more positive attitudes toward the product than less typical form design, (2) a more typical design compensates for the average functionality of the product and hence a product with average functionality is evaluated as well as highly functional products in the more typical design condition. In a less typical design condition, a product with high functionality leads to much lower consumer attitudes towards the product, (3) whereas the form design for incremental innovations must be closer to the incumbent products for favorable evaluations, less typical form is evaluated as good as more typical form for radical innovations. (4) Form design of an innovative product matters more to the technologically more sophisticated consumers (experts) than technologically less sophisticated consumers (novices). In the second essay, I examine the issues involved in using form design to nullify first mover advantage. Pioneers or first movers can be defined as the first firm to sell in a new product category. Despite the proliferation of the pioneering advantage research, there are few empirical studies which examined how the product design enables the later entrants to nullify the first mover advantage. Employing theoretical underpinnings from categorization theory, I investigate the following research questions. First, what type of form is more likely to enhance consumer evaluations and nullify first mover advantage when the follower's product is featured with higher or lower functionality? Second, how does form design interact with functional design for the follower's product? Results from the experimental study conducted demonstrate that (1) if the follower's functionality is not superior to the pioneer's, follower had better focus on design differentiation which can compensate for the lower functionality of the follower (2) if the follower's functionality is superior to the pioneer's, follower had better follow the pioneer's design for the better product evaluation. The managerial implication is clear: Form design is a critical determinant of consumer evaluations. Form design helps create and appropriate value for firms.

Sportmarknaden har växt kraftigt under en längre period och är nu en viktig industri där allt fler aktörer konkurrerar om individers åtråvärda tid. Således har marknaden blivit betydligt mer kommersiell och ett sätt att undvika denna konkurrens är att skapa en ny sport. I denna studie kommer etableringen av en ny rekreationssport undersökas samt hur internationaliseringsprocessen ser ut. Tidigare forskning har behandlat professionell sport men saknar studier som riktar sig mot rekreationssporter. För att bidra till forskningen om rekreationssport har denna studie testat applicerbarheten av teorierna Blue Ocean Strategy och Uppsalamodellen i syfte att ta reda på hur en sport grundas, vilka fördelar man har som first mover, hur man försvarar sig samt hur expansion till internationella marknader går till. Detta har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod där grundarna av två svenska företag som driver rekreationssporter, ÖTILLÖ och Tough Viking, har intervjuats. Empirin visar att grundandet av en sport kräver stor passion, viljan att testa något nytt och en hybrid som gör sporter enklare och mer tillgängliga. Efter grundandet har first movern fördelen att sätta standarden i form av regler, välja de bästa platserna för eventet samt att företaget associeras med sporten. Den tydligaste strategin för att försvara sig är att företaget agerar likt ett förbund i syfte att avväpna nya aktörer och i den processen samtidigt få sporten att växa. Internationalisering av företagen sker för att sprida sporten och många sportspecifika faktorer styr valet av marknad vilket skiljer sig från Uppsalamodellen. / The sports market has grown strongly over a longer period of time and is now an important industry where more and more actors are competing for individuals' desirable time. Thus, the market has become significantly more commercial and one way to avoid this competition is to create a new sport. In this study, the establishment of a new recreational sport will be examined and what the internationalization process looks like. Previous research has dealt with professional sports but lacks studies aimed at recreational sports. To contribute to research on recreational sports, this study has tested the applicability of the theories Blue Ocean Strategy and the Uppsala model in order to find out how a sport is founded, what advantages you have as a first mover, how to defend yourself and how to expand to international markets. This has been done with a qualitative method where the founders of two Swedish companies that run recreational sports, ÖTILLÖ and Tough Viking, have been interviewed. The empirical presentation shows that founding a sport requires great passion, the desire to try something new and a hybrid that makes sports easier and more accessible. After the founding, a first mover has the advantage of setting the standard in the form of rules, choosing the best venues for the event and that the company is associated with the sport. The most distinct strategy for defending itself is that the company acts like a sport federation in order to disarm new actors and in the same process make the sport grow. Internationalization of companies takes place to spread the sport and many sport-specific factors dictate the choice of market, which differs from the Uppsala model.

This thesis presents two essays that explore firms’ incentive to share information in a multi-period decentralized supply chain and between competing firms. In the first essay, we consider a two-period supply chain in which one manufacturer supplies to a retailer. The retailer possesses some private demand information about the uncertain demand and decides whether to share the information with manufacturer. If an information sharing agreement is achieved, the retailer will share the observed demand information truthfully to the manufacturer. Then the selling season with two periods starts. In each period, the manufacturer decides on a wholesale price, which the retailer considers when deciding on the retail price. The manufacturer can observe the retailer's period-1 decision and the realized period-1 demand, and use this information when making the period-2 wholesale price decision. Thus, without information sharing, the two firms play a two-period signaling game. We find that voluntary information sharing is not possible because it benefits the manufacturer but hurts the retailer. However, different from one-period model, in which no information sharing can be achieved even with side payment, the manufacturer can make a side payment to the retailer to induce information sharing when the demand range is small. Both firms benefit from more accurate information regardless whether the retailer shares information. We also extend the two-period model to three-period model and infinite-period model, we find that the above results are robust. The second essay studies the incentives for information sharing between two competing firms with different production timing strategies. Each firm is planning to produce a new (upgraded) product. One firm adopts routine timing, whereby her production time is fixed according to her tradition of similar or previous models of the product. The other firm uses strategic timing, whereby his production time can be strategically chosen: be it before, simultaneously with, and after the routine firm. The two firms simultaneously choose whether or not to disclose their private demand information, make their quantity decisions based on any demand information available, and then compete in the market. We find that when the demand uncertainty is not high, both firms sharing information is the unique equilibrium outcome. Exactly one firm (the routine firm) sharing information can arise in equilibrium when the demand uncertainty is intermediate. These results are in stark contrast to extant literature which has shown that, for Cournot competitors with substitutable goods, no firm is willing to share demand information. Production timing is thus identified as a key driving force for horizontal information sharing, which might have been overlooked before. Surprisingly, when the competition becomes more intense, firms are more willing to share information. It is the information asymmetry that fundamentally change the strategic firm’s timing. We highlight the impact of signaling demand information for an early-production firm on the timing strategies, under different information sharing arrangements.

<p>Program: MIMA student – International business and Entrepreneurship</p><p>Course name: Master Thesis (EFO705)Title: Imitation as Organization’s StrategyAuthors: Voravej AssavapisitkulSataporn Bukkavesa</p><p>Supervisor: Sven-Åke NyströmProblem: Does imitation really benefit organization?</p><p>Purpose: The authors are writing this topic because the authors feel that this topic is not widely been investigated, moreover, it is a very interesting topic for the authors. According to the course literatures that the authors have read, the authors perceived that most of them focused on innovation and seems like they ignored or mentioned little on the topic of imitation and how can imitation benefits organization. Therefore, the authors are personally interested in the topic. The authors hope that the readers would gain more knowledge on the topic and would be able to apply with their business or study.</p><p>Method: Interpretivist; Documentary; Interview</p><p>Summary: In this Master Thesis, the authors have discussed several dimensions of imitation with examples. First, the authors discussed about imitation during the early stage of industrialization with the examples in Korea. This topic discussed of the opportunity provided through imitation process for the new firms to be able to catch up and compete with experienced firms. The next topic is on unique capability. Firms can apply imitation as their own capability that can prevent others’ imitation, moreover, they can become successful in the new market. Then the authors found that there are ways to imitate other firms’ knowledge legally in the form of strategic alliances. In the topic of creation of strategic alliances, the authors suggested four patterns of engagement that firms can select according to their objectives. Under the topic of firms experience, there are some empirical data supported that the degree of imitation has negative relationship with firms’ experience curve. Moreover, the authors discussed about the how competitors’ actions affect the firms to select different strategy of organization management in the topic of the choice of alliances and mergers and acquisitions by competitor’s move. Then the authors discussed about how successful were the imitations by reverse-engineering implemented by Korea’s electronics industry. Furthermore, the authors also provide examples of imitations in other industries. The next topic is limitation and prevention on imitation. Then the authors provided the reasons why do firms imitate. Moreover, the authors discussed about the factors that affect the speed of imitation process and show how the speed of imitation related to benefits and losses of the firms. Next, the authors suggested some successful strategies for product imitation. Then the authors discussed about the drawbacks of imitation with some examples. Finally, the authors provided the results and analysis of the interviews as primary data collection to show the success of firms that implemented imitations, people’s attitudes toward imitation, and the degree that originality and product origin can limit imitation.</p>

Program: MIMA student – International business and Entrepreneurship Course name: Master Thesis (EFO705)Title: Imitation as Organization’s StrategyAuthors: Voravej AssavapisitkulSataporn Bukkavesa Supervisor: Sven-Åke NyströmProblem: Does imitation really benefit organization? Purpose: The authors are writing this topic because the authors feel that this topic is not widely been investigated, moreover, it is a very interesting topic for the authors. According to the course literatures that the authors have read, the authors perceived that most of them focused on innovation and seems like they ignored or mentioned little on the topic of imitation and how can imitation benefits organization. Therefore, the authors are personally interested in the topic. The authors hope that the readers would gain more knowledge on the topic and would be able to apply with their business or study. Method: Interpretivist; Documentary; Interview Summary: In this Master Thesis, the authors have discussed several dimensions of imitation with examples. First, the authors discussed about imitation during the early stage of industrialization with the examples in Korea. This topic discussed of the opportunity provided through imitation process for the new firms to be able to catch up and compete with experienced firms. The next topic is on unique capability. Firms can apply imitation as their own capability that can prevent others’ imitation, moreover, they can become successful in the new market. Then the authors found that there are ways to imitate other firms’ knowledge legally in the form of strategic alliances. In the topic of creation of strategic alliances, the authors suggested four patterns of engagement that firms can select according to their objectives. Under the topic of firms experience, there are some empirical data supported that the degree of imitation has negative relationship with firms’ experience curve. Moreover, the authors discussed about the how competitors’ actions affect the firms to select different strategy of organization management in the topic of the choice of alliances and mergers and acquisitions by competitor’s move. Then the authors discussed about how successful were the imitations by reverse-engineering implemented by Korea’s electronics industry. Furthermore, the authors also provide examples of imitations in other industries. The next topic is limitation and prevention on imitation. Then the authors provided the reasons why do firms imitate. Moreover, the authors discussed about the factors that affect the speed of imitation process and show how the speed of imitation related to benefits and losses of the firms. Next, the authors suggested some successful strategies for product imitation. Then the authors discussed about the drawbacks of imitation with some examples. Finally, the authors provided the results and analysis of the interviews as primary data collection to show the success of firms that implemented imitations, people’s attitudes toward imitation, and the degree that originality and product origin can limit imitation.

Abstract This dissertation explores the strategy of entering a high ¡Vbarrier industry for a conventional resin company. By analyzing the competitive advantage of nations in LCD industry, followed by comparisons made based on Resources Based View among the leading LCD chemical companies and the emerging Korea chemical firms in this industry ,the author analyzed the key successful factors of these firms and assemblied a set of strategies for the local players. The results leads to conclusions as follows: 1. The Taiwan LCD industry will have limited future ,without local LCD chemical companies. 2. The key successful factors of first movers are intensive R&D activities, aggressive participation in customers¡¦new projects, strategically alliance with important customers, and products portfolio being based on core technology of polymers, colorants or microlithography and also with organizational capabilities and long histories in chemical industry. 3.The Korean late-commers have similar KSFs with their Japanese competitors ,except that they focus their resources on fewer products portofolio and are more aggressive for faster response to customers¡¦ needs by adopting the culture of electronic industry¡¦s fast tempo. This dissertation is a case study on the competitive advantages of sampled chemical firms. By collection of related papers and reports and talks with experts in the field ,the key successful factors of the foreign competitors are summarized and the counter strategies for the local player are thus formulated. A business plan was proposed to prove the feasibility of the strategies. Key words: TFT LCD,follower¡¦s strategy,first-mover advantage, aggromeration economy,resource based view.