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The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of human capital related to gender and nationality diversity in boards of directors on the innovation of university spin-offs (USOs) in their entrepreneurial ecosystem. Following the intellectual capital (IC) framework and the resource dependence theory, upper echelons theory and critical mass theory, it hypothesizes that the relationship between board diversity and USOs’ firm innovation is non-linear.

To test the research hypotheses empirically, a sample of 827 Italian USOs over the period 2009–2018 was analyzed using zero-inflated Poisson regression modeling. A robustness test was also performed.

Gender obstacles remain in USOs’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, with little involvement of women in boards, and the benefits of human capital for firm innovation emerge with increased female representation. Nevertheless, a few foreign-born directors embody valued IC in terms of human capital from an internationally linked entrepreneurial ecosystem, which decreases with more foreign-born directors due to communication costs and coordination problems.

The emerging non-linear relationships imply that gender- and nationality-diverse boards in USOs constitute critical human capital factors boosting the devolvement of entrepreneurial processes, in terms of firm innovation, in university entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This study contributes significantly to the move from traditional corporate governance analysis through an IC framework, fostering an understanding of the role of human capital and its diversity determinants in spurring firm innovation among USOs considering the university entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This study aims to investigate the role assumed by corporate governance mechanisms in guiding a corporate organization to take on benefit company (BC) model using the theoretical models of agency theory and stakeholder theory applied to the corporate social responsibility activities of the firm. In detail, it has been hypothesized that the phenomenon of chief executive officer (CEO) duality, independent directors and female directors has a positive effect on the likelihood of a firm taking the model of a BC.

A panel sample of 354 Italian firms taking the institutional model of BC and a control group of 600 firms extracted from the Aida BvD database were analysed. Data covers a period from 2009 to 2018. To empirically validate the advanced research hypotheses, four non-linear probit regression models were estimated.

The results show that CEO duality seems to have a positive influence on the company’s likelihood of taking the model of a BC. Similarly, the independence of the board of directors and the gender diversity within the board of directors have a positive impact on the company’s likelihood of assuming the model of a BC.

The research work contributes at integrating the emerging debates into the literature about the relationship between corporate governance and corporate responsibilities by expanding them into new and emerging business context of the hybrid organizational model. Further, the systematic use of the theoretical models of agency theory and stakeholder theory applied to socially responsible activities will improve the understanding of the heterogeneous relationships between corporate governance and choice for the institutional model of BC.

The purpose of this research is to study the effect of organizational innovation, in terms of the introduction of both new business practices and new methods of organizing workplaces, on firm growth, along with the moderating role of the firm size in this relationship.

A panel sample of 4,125 Spanish innovative firms taken from the Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2009 to 2014 was analyzed. Two-Step System-Generalized method of moments approach and instrumental variables approach with two-stage least squares have been used.

The findings remark the positive effect of organizational innovation on firm growth in case firms introduce both new business practices and new methods of organizing workplaces. Furthermore, the empirical evidences show that the firm size has a role, although partial, in moderating negatively the effect of introducing both new business practices and new methods of organizing workplaces on firm growth.

The study adds some new theoretical insights and empirical evidences into the literature related to the inertia theory in the perspective of the population ecology, incorporating it with the effect of firm size. Furthermore, the study may represent a further part of the complex literature puzzle that links organizational innovation to firm growth, and the inclusion of the moderating role of the firm size will partially provide a deeper understanding of this link.

El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar el efecto de la innovación organizativa, en términos de introducción de nuevas prácticas de negocio, nuevos métodos de organización del trabajo, en el crecimiento empresarial, junto con el papel moderador del tamaño de la empresa.

Se analiza un panel de 4.125 empresas innovadoras españolas pertenecientes al Panel de Innovación Tecnológica (PITEC) para el periodo 2009 - 2014. Se estimaron modelos por GMM en dos etapas y mediante modelos de mínimos cuadrados en dos etapas con variables instrumentales.

Los resultados subrayan el efecto positivo de la innovación organizativa en el crecimiento empresarial en el caso en el que la empresa introduzca nuevas prácticas de negocio y de organización del trabajo. Más aún, el tamaño de la empresa también juega un papel, aunque parcial, moderando negativamente los anteriores efectos principales.

El estudio aporta nuevos ideas teóricas y evidencia empírica a la literatura relacionada con la teoría de la inercia en la perspectiva de la ecología de las poblaciones, incorporando el efecto del tamaño de la empresa. Es más, el estudio representa un paso más en la compleja literatura que ha vinculado la innovación organizativa con el crecimiento empresarial. La incorporación del papel moderador del tamaño de la empresa puede ayudar a entender mejor esta última conexión.

Innovación organizativa, Nuevas prácticas de negocio, Nuevos métodos de organización del trabajo, Crecimiento empresarial, Tamaño empresarial, España

Revisión general

O objetivo desta pesquisa é estudar o efeito da inovação organizacional, em termos da introdução de novas práticas de negócios e novos métodos de organização em locais de trabalho, no crescimento da empresa, juntamente com o papel moderador do tamanho da empresa nessa relação.

Se analizou uma amostra de painel de 4.125 empresas inovadoras espanholas retiradas do Painel de Inovação Tecnológica (PITEC) durante o período de 2009 a 2014. Foram usadas a abordagem do Sistema GMM em duas etapas e a abordagem IV com 2SLS.

Os resultados mostram o efeito positivo da inovação organizacional sobre o crescimento da empresa, no caso das empresas introduzirem novas práticas de negócios e novos métodos de organização nos locais de trabalho. Além disso, as evidências empíricas mostram que o tamanho da empresa tem um papel, ainda que parcial, de moderar negativamente o efeito de introduzir novas práticas de negócios e novos métodos de organização dos locais de trabalho no crescimento das empresas.

O estudo acrescenta alguns novos conhecimentos teóricos e evidências empíricas à literatura relacionada à teoria da inércia na perspectiva da ecologia populacional, incorporando-a ao efeito do tamanho da empresa. Além disso, o estudo pode representar mais uma parte do complexo quebra-cabeça da literatura que liga a inovação organizacional ao crescimento da empresa e a inclusão do papel moderador do tamanho da empresa que fornecerá, em parte, uma compreensão mais profunda desse elo.

Inovação organizacional, Novas práticas de negócios, Novos métodos de organização de locais de trabalho, Crescimento da empresa, Tamanho da empresa, Espanha

Revisão geral

The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that the university context may partially determine the growth of university spin-offs (USOs), with a cross-national analysis and using an “interactionist” approach.

Two samples of USOs, from Spain and Italy (531 and 952 firms, respectively), were examined over the 2005-2013 period. Multilevel modelling was applied to empirically test the hypotheses.

The results confirmed that the university context is a critical and effective element for explaining USOs’ growth. The university context affected USOs’ growth only for the Spanish firms, while for the Italian spin-offs the evidence does not report a significant determining influence of the university context. This finding may be interpreted as the localization externalities, determined by the Spanish universities, have a more effective impact at firm level compared with those generated by the Italian universities.

The paper provides evidence that the university context has a significant role in supporting USOs’ growth in Spain, but not in Italy. This finding, together with the fact that the Italian USOs showed lower growth rates over the period of analysis, may suggest that greater involvement by the Italian parent universities is needed to foster USOs’ growth. The main point to be underlined to decision makers is that policies aimed at fostering USOs need the active involvement of the parent university in the whole growth process of the nascent firm, rather than just in the USO creation process.

A multilevel approach provides both methodological and theoretical contributions to the study of USOs’ growth, which was adopted as an “interactionist” approach is recommended by literature. In addition, a cross-national approach allows for exploration of the actual effect of the university on the growth of USOs, taking into account international differences.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of foreign venture capital (VC)/private equity (PE) ownership and other types of foreign investors on the access to external finance, in terms of credit provision, by the independent high-tech small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the European context.

The research methodology is based on the analysis of a panel sample consisting of 1,138 firms from 23 European Union countries for the period 2006-2015. To statistically test the two defined research hypotheses, a panel model was run using 2SLS estimation.

The findings show that foreign ownership has a positive but partial role in improving the availability of external funding for independent high-tech SMEs. Foreign VC/PE ownership seems to facilitate the global accessibility of external financing but not the access to bank lending; on the contrary, other forms of foreign ownership (excluding VC/PE) seem to increase only the access to bank lending.

In order to open their businesses to a global spectrum of investment opportunities and increase the potentials of full development, small independent entrepreneurs should become attentive to the role of foreign investors. Further, policy actions need to stimulate an international vision of the way of doing business among the entrepreneurial contexts of high-tech SMEs.

The research fills a literature gap on the role of foreign ownership in mitigating the financing limitations of independent high-tech SMEs. Additionally, as independent high-tech SMEs differ from non-independent firms, the financing constraints and information asymmetry faced by independent firms are critical and pivotal to explore.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence of the presence in foreign markets on small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) financial performance. Furthermore, it seeks to examine the moderating effect of corporate group and alliance portfolio size on this relationship.

First, the authors develop hypotheses concerning the relationship between the presence in foreign markets and SMEs’ financial performance as well as the moderating role of the size of an SME’s corporate group and alliance portfolio. Afterward, the authors used ordinary least square regression to the test the hypotheses based on a sample of 5,885 high-tech US SMEs registered in the Orbis database (Bureau van Dijk).

Results of the study reveal that the presence in foreign markets is positively associated with an SME’s financial performance, with the size of the corporate group enhancing this relationship, hence confirming the conjectures. Instead, the size of the alliance portfolio appears to not exert any moderating effect, in contrast with the last hypothesis.

Form a theoretical perspective, the authors dig into the literature assessing the performance outcomes of SMEs and contingent effects of the possibility to tap into external resources of other firms. By so doing, the findings support a specific stream of the literature in claiming the positive effects deriving from being part of a corporate group. Conversely, the findings seem to go in the opposite direction of the majority of the literature that claim a positive impact of alliances on financial performances, while supporting those studies stressing that alliances pose significant challenges for SMEs and should be carefully identified and managed.

The purpose of this study is to develop a moderated mediation model by which quality-oriented product design practices influence operational performance via supplier involvement under the different levels of product modularity.

The authors use the multisource data from 268 manufacturing firms worldwide and apply regression and the PROCESS macro model to test the moderated mediation model.

The findings reveal that quality-oriented product design practices enhance operational performance directly and do so indirectly through promoting supplier involvement in quality improvement. In addition, this indirect effect is stronger when the level of product modularity is high.

By exploring the interaction effects of quality-oriented product design and product modularity, this study provides valuable insights into the ways in which manufacturing firms improve operational performance more effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a modular product design system and a product development roadmap (PDR), which can help to improve modular design (MD) and product innovation capabilities, respectively. Their relationships with product newness (PN) and new product performance are also assessed.

The proposed model was tested through structural equation modelling using data from a survey of 153 manufacturers in the electronic and electrical appliance industries in China.

The findings reveal that the proposed modular product design system and PDR can improve MD and product innovation capabilities. The authors also explore the conflicting relationships of MD and product innovation capability with PN.

The findings contribute to the literature by showing that MD can constrain PN while product innovation can improve it. The study provides new empirical evidence of these relationships and has strategic implications. In addition, this study identifies two product development techniques that can improve MD and innovation capability, respectively.

The authors provide new evidence of the relationship between MD and innovation capability at product level, and confirm a side effect of pursuing both in terms of new product development. Through empirical testing, the authors first verify two product development techniques for implementing modular product design and product innovation.

This paper aims to examine how an organization can achieve higher performance through integrating supply chain product co‐development (SCPC) and modular product design.

Based on a comprehensive review of literature on product development, supply chain management and system theory, the four proposed hypotheses concerning the relationships among SCPC, product modularity (PM), manufacturing capabilities and product performance (PP) were tested empirically through a sample of 251 Hong Kong manufacturers.

SCPC is found to have a direct and positive relationship with PM and PP. PM improves flexibility and customer service and in turn PP.

Given the cross‐sectional nature of the study and the focus on manufacturing industry, future research should replicate this study in different industries with more longitudinal studies.

The study provides solid evidence that managers should involve their suppliers, internal functional units and customers early in their design stages, especially in the decisions relating to PM. The study has also demonstrated that product co‐development affects PP in both direct and indirect ways.

The present study empirically verifies the relationships between supply chain integration and modular product design by means of SCPC and PM. Similar empirical research is absent from the literature on relevant disciplines.

While the beneficial impact of supply chain integration (SCI) and modular product design are generally acknowledged, few empirical studies have examined how an organization can achieve better performance through SCI with modular product design. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between SCI and modular product design, as well as their impact on product performance.

By surveying 251 manufacturers in Hong Kong, structural equation modelling is used to test the research constructs and the hypothesized model.

The results confirm that information sharing, product co‐development and organizational coordination are crucial organizational processes within SCI. Companies that have high levels of product modularity appear to be good at product co‐development and organizational coordination directly and at information sharing indirectly. Furthermore, companies that have high levels of product co‐development or product modularity appear to have better product performance.

This paper theoretically and empirically identifies three specific organizational processes within SCI (information sharing, product co‐development and organizational coordination), which affect modular product design and product performance. These more specific findings were previously absent from the literature. However, the study is limited to the cross‐sectional nature of a survey study, the operationalization of SCI and product modularity, and the nature of the product types.

This paper empirically examines the relationships between SCI and product modularity, which has seldom been attempted in previous research. It clearly identifies exactly which processes within SCI are directly and indirectly related to product modularity.