The co-evolution of firms and their environment is a central topic in strategic management research. On the one hand, as their environment changes, firms need to adapt to these changes by updating their knowledge base. An important pillar of a firm’s continued sourcing for new knowledge is the integration of externally developed knowledge, which is labeled as external knowledge sourcing. On the other hand, firms’ actions influence their environment. Hence, firms proactively design strategies that allow them to shape the future business environment to their benefit. In my dissertation, I examine both strategic actions by firms: adaptation and shaping.
Adaptation
In Chapter 2, I provide an overview of the literature on external knowledge sourcing. I assess and integrate the research on the antecedents as well as the outcomes of knowledge sourcing for the sourcing firm. Creating this overview, I find that the antecedents for a firm’s choice of external knowledge sourcing governance mode are rooted in the technology, firm, and industry level. I also highlight the importance of recognizing the dyadic character of interfirm collaboration when studying these antecedents. Regarding the outcomes, I find that innovation performance has extensively been studied, while other potential outcomes of knowledge sourcing have received scant attention. Avenues for future research are proposed. In Chapter 3, I present my research on the influence of the structure of a target firm’s intrafirm inventor network on post-acquisition leverage of its knowledge by the acquirer. More specifically, the study investigates if more centralized inventor networks facilitate post-acquisition leverage of a target’s knowledge. It is theorized that central inventors, inherently present in networks with a highly centralized structure, will function as directories of the target’s knowledge, in turn facilitating transfer and leverage of this knowledge by the acquiring firm. The predictions are empirically tested using 323 US domestic full acquisitions between 1980 and 2009. The results show that, in accordance with the predictions, there exists a positive relationship between the degree of centralization of a target’s inventor network and post-acquisition knowledge leverage. This relationship is contingent on the relatedness of the knowledge bases of the acquirer and target, and the coherence of the knowledge of the target’s inventors.
Shaping
Chapter 4 presents research that provides a first quantitative approach towards firms’ shaping strategies. A taxonomy of shaping activities is developed using data from the photovoltaic cell industry. Building upon this taxonomy we categorize firms’ innovative activities as either shaping or adaptation activities. This categorization allows us to examine antecedents shaping firms have in common. Moreover, we explore the special case of shaping by firms in the aftermath of the emergence of a dominant design. / Business Administration/Strategic Management
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/7714 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | jacobs, charlotte |
| Contributors | Mudambi, Ram, 1954-, Moreira, Solon, Tandon, Vivek, 1964-, Di Benedetto, C. Anthony |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 185 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/7686, Theses and Dissertations |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds