Which Factors Favour Becoming a Technology-Based & Highly Innovative Firm? The Role of Knowledge, Technological and Managerial Capabilities, and Entrepreneurs´ Education Background
Keywords:
technology-based & highly innovative firm, knowledge-based capabilities, technological capabilities, managerial capabilities, entrepreneurial educationAbstract
Which resources and capabilities ease the change to become a Technology-Based and Highly Innovative Firm –TB&InnF–, focused in the creation of value to market? We analyse this question using a novel data panel assembled for 326 Spanish industrial firms, along the period 1984-2012. Our findings show the probability of becoming a TB&InnF growths when firms are able to accumulate a high endowment of knowledge and technological capabilities, and a managerial team with: experience, strong power position and previous technical and managerial education. Results also indicate the CEO´s educational profile in management is preferable to a pure technical profile, because this complements firm´s knowledge and technological capabilities and enables the transformation of a scientific or technological project into a successful entrepreneurial innovation, which creates new value to market.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
Ahuja, G., Katila, R. (2004), “Where do resources come from? The role of idiosyncratic situations”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 25, No. 8-9, pp. 887-901.
Alecke, B., Alsleben, C., Scharr, F., Untiedt, G. (2006), “Are there really high-tech clusters? The geographic concentration of German manufacturing industries and its determinants”, The Annals of Regional Science, Vol. 40, No. 1, p. 19.
Anand, J., Kogut, B. (1997), “Technological capabilities of countries, firm rivalry and foreign direct investment”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 445-465.
Ansoff, H. I. (1979), Strategic management, Wiley, New York.
Autio, E., Yli-Renko, H. (1998), “New, technology-based firms in small open economies—an analysis based on the Finnish experience”, Research Policy, Vol. 26, No. 9, pp. 973-987.
Bachmann, A. (1998), “Profiles of corporate technological capabilities –A comparison of large British and German pharmaceutical companies”, Technovation, Vol. 18, No. 10, pp. 593-605.
Barea, J. M. (2003), “El proceso de creación de EIBT’s. Ciclo vital y apoyos al desarrollo y crecimiento”, in Simón Elorz, K. (Ed.), La creación de empresas de base tecnológica: Una experiencia práctica (The creation of technology-based companies: a practical experience). Proyecto para la promoción de empresas innovadoras de base tecnológica. España, pp. 61-66.
Barney, J. (1986), “Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck and business strategy”, Management Science, Vol. 32, No. 10, pp. 1231-1241.
Barney, J. (1991), “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 99-120.
Barringer, B. R., Jones, F. F., Neubaum, D. O. (2005), “A quantitative content analysis of the characteristics of rapid-growth firms and their founders”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 663–687.
Bonnes, G. (2003), “Factores críticos de éxito en la creación de EIBT´s: Lecciones aprendidas de la creación de 100 Start-Ups de base tecnológica” (Critical success factors in the creation of EIBTs: Lessons learned from the creation of 100 technology-based Start-Ups), in Simón Elorz, K. (Ed.), La creación de empresas de base tecnológica: Una experiencia práctica (The creation of technology-based companies: a practical experience), Proyecto Para La Promoción De Empresas Innovadoras De Base Tecnológica España, España, pp. 51-60.
Brinckmann, J., Hoegl, M. (2011), “Effects of initial teamwork capability and initial relational capability on the development of new technology-based firms”, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 37-57.
Burger-Helmchen, T. (2009), “Capabilities in small high-tech firms: a case of plural-entrepreneurship”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 391-405.
Camisón, C. (2004), “On how to measure managerial and organizational capabilities: Multi-item models for measuring distinctive competences”, Management Research: Journal of the Iberoamerican Academy of Management, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 27-48.
Camisón-Zornoza, C., Forés-Julián, B., Puig-Denia, A. (2009), “Effect of shared competences in industrial districts on knowledge creation and absorptive capacity”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 1973-1987.
Capaldo, G., Fontes, M. (2001), “Support for graduate entrepreneurs in new technology-based firms: An Exploratory Study from Southern Europe”, Enterprise and Innovation Management Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 65-78.
Castanias, R., Helfat, C. E. (1991), “Managerial resources and rents”, Journal of Management, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 155-173.
Colombo, M. G., Delmastro, M., Grilli, L. (2004), “Entrepreneurs' human capital and the start-up size of new technology-based firms”, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Vol. 22, No. 8-9, pp. 1183-1211.
Colombo, M. G., Grilli, L. (2005), “Founders’ human capital and the growth of new technology-based firms: A competence-based view”, Research policy, Vol. 34, No. 6, pp. 795-816.
Colombo, M. G., Grilli, L. (2007), “Funding gaps? Access to bank loans by high-teh start-ups”, Small Business Economics, Vol. 29, No. 1-2, pp. 25-46.
Colombo, M. G., Grilli, L. (2010), “On growth drivers of high-tech start-ups: Exploring the role of founders’ human capital and venture capital”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 25, N. 6, pp. 610-626.
Coombs, J. E., Bierly III, P. E. (2001), “Looking through the kalidescope. Measuring technological capability and performance”. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2001, No. 1, pp. B1-B6.
Dess G. G., Beard D. W. (1984), “Dimensions of organizational task environments”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 52-73.
Dezi, L., Schiavone, F., Gamma, F. (2009), “Competitiveness in new technology-based firms: between local high-tech clusters and global technological markets”, International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 412-426.
Duysters, G., Hagedoorn, J. (2000), “Core competences and company performance in the world-wide computer industry”, The Journal of High Technology Management Research, Vol. 11. No. 1, pp. 75-91.
Flor, M., Oltra, M. J. (2005), “The influence of firms’ technological capabilities on export performance in supplier-dominated industries: The case of ceramic tiles firms”, R&D Management, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 333-347.
Fontes, M., Coombs, R. (1996), “New technology-based firm formation in a less advanced country: a learning process”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 82-101.
García-Muiña, F. E., Navas-López, J. E. (2007), “Las capacidades tecnológicas y los resultados empresariales. Un estudio empírico en el sector biotecnológico español” (Technological capabilities and business results: an empirical study in the Spanish biotechnology sector), Cuadernos de Economía y Dirección de la Empresa, Vol. 32, No., pp. 177-210.
Guan, J., Ma, N. (2003), “Innovative capability and export performance of Chinese firms”, Technovation, Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 737-747.
Haeussler, C., Patzelt, H., Zahra, S. A. (2012), “Strategic alliances and product development in high technology new firms: The moderating effect of technological capabilities”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 217-233.
Hambrick, D. C., Brandon, G. L. (1988), “Executive values”, in Hambrick, D. C. (Ed.), The Executive Effect: Concepts and Methods for Studying Top Managers, JAI Press, Greenwich, Connecticut, pp. 3-34.
Kim, W. C., Mauborgne, R. (2005), Blue ocean strategy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Lawless, M. W., Finch, L. K. (1989), “Choice and determinism: A test of Hrebiniak and Joyce’s framework on strategy-environment framework”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 351-365.
Lin, E., Lin, T. M. Y., Lin, B. W. (2010), “New high-tech venturing as process of resource accumulation”, Management Decision, Vol. 48, No. 8, pp. 1230-1246.
Little, A. D. (1977), New technology-based firms in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany, Wilton House, London.
Lutz, A. (2003), “Nuevos paradigmas y nuevas oportunidades: Nichos de mercado para los emprendedores tecnológicos. Experiencias prácticas en la Unión Europea” (New paradigms and new opportunities: niche markets for technological entrepreneurs: practical experiences in the European Union), in Simón Elorz, K. (Ed.), La creación de empresas de base tecnológica: Una experiencia práctica (The creation of technology-based companies: a practical experience), Proyecto para la promoción de empresas innovadoras de base tecnológica, España, pp. 43-50.
Maine, E. M., Shapiro, D. M., Vining, A. R. (2010), “The role of clustering in the growth of new technology-based firms”, Small Business Economics, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 127-146.
March-Chordà, I. (2004), “Success factors and barriers facing the innovative start-ups and their influence upon performance over time”, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Vol. 4, No. 2-3, pp. 228-247.
McAdam, M., McAdam, R. (2008), “High tech start-ups in University Science Park incubators: The relationship between the start-up's lifecycle progression and use of the incubator's resources”, Technovation, Vol. 28, No. 5, pp. 277-290.
Moon, C. W. (1998), “Technological capacity as a determinant of governance form in international strategic combinations”, The Journal of High Technology Management Research, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 35-53.
O’Gorman, C. (2003), “Stimulating high–tech venture creation”, R&D Management, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 177-187.
Penrose, E. T. (1995), The theory of the growth of the firm, Oxford University Press, New York.
Perdomo-Ortiz, J., González-Benito, J., Galende, J. (2006), “Total quality management as a forerunner of business innovation capability”, Technovation, Vol. 26, No. 10, pp. 1170-1185.
Praest, M. (1998), “Changing technological capabilities in high-tech firms: A study of the telecommunications industry”, The Journal of High Technology Management Research, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 175-193.
Schoenecker, T., Swanson, L. (2002), “Indicators of firm technological capability: validity and performance implications”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 36-44.
Storey, D. J., Tether, B. S. (1998), “New technology-based firms in the European Union: an introduction”, Research policy, Vol. 26, No. 9, pp. 933-946.
Tödtling, F., Lehner, P., Kaufmann, A. (2009), “Do different types of innovation rely on specific kinds of knowledge interactions?”, Technovation, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 59-71.
Tuominen, M., Hyvönen, S. (2004), “Organizational innovation capability: A driver for competitive superiority in marketing channels”, The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 277-293.
Van Den Bosch, F. A., Volberda, H. W., De Boer, M. (1999), “Coevolution of firm absorptive capacity and knowledge environment: Organizational forms and combinative capabilities”, Organization science, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 551-568.
Wernerfelt, B. (1984), “A resource‐based view of the firm”, Strategic management journal, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 171-180.
Wu, L. Y. (2007), “Entrepreneurial resources, dynamic capabilities and start-up performance of Taiwan's high-tech firms”, Journal of Business research, Vol. 60, No. 5, pp. 549-555.
Wu, L. Y., Wang, C. J. (2007), “Transforming resources to improve performance of technology-based firms: A Taiwanese Empirical Study”, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 251-261.
Yan, Y., Zhang, J. A. (2003), “Performance of high-tech firms’ resource and capability-based development: knowledge acquisition, organizational utilisation and management involvement”, International Journal of Business Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 45-68.
Zheng, Y., Liu, J., George, G. (2010), “The dynamic impact of innovative capability and inter-firm network on firm valuation: A longitudinal study of biotechnology start-ups”, Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 593-609.
