Ekaterina S. Bjornali and Andreas Ellingsen
Given prior limited research on boards in clean-tech enterprises, we investigate what constitutes an effective board exploring in-depth: who the board members are, what roles they…
Abstract
Purpose
Given prior limited research on boards in clean-tech enterprises, we investigate what constitutes an effective board exploring in-depth: who the board members are, what roles they perform and how these roles are performed.
Methodology/approach
Our study is an inductive, multiple case study of five clean-tech enterprises established in Norway.
Findings
We find that board composition in terms of complementary resources that the top management team lacks added by outside directors, their increased engagement in the board service role and board behavioural integration are important constituents of board effectiveness, which in turn translates into the increased levels of the firm’s strategic action capabilities, both action speed and breadth.
Research limitations/implications
We suggest that these three constituents (prevalence of outside directors, board service role engagement and board behavioural integration) together make up the board contribution, which is most valued by clean-tech enterprises in the earliest stages of their development. Future research could be conducted in other types of high-tech start-ups and/or in other hybrid social enterprises to strengthen the generalizability of our findings.
Originality/value
While the mainstream governance research focuses on for-profit boards in large established companies, our study adds to the research on non-for-profit governance and boards in clean-tech enterprises that are both small entrepreneurial and hybrid social enterprises.
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Ekaterina S. Bjornali and Liv Anne Støren
This paper aims to examine the effects of individual competencies and characteristics linked to educational programmes that contribute to the development of competencies conducive…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of individual competencies and characteristics linked to educational programmes that contribute to the development of competencies conducive to innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on theories of intrapreneurial competencies – i.e. intrapreneurship and competence‐based innovation – and the entrepreneurship education literature. The study uses comprehensive survey data on approximately 11,000 higher education graduates, five years after graduation in 12 European countries, collected in 2005. The authors test hypotheses regarding the effects of individual competencies and study programme characteristics on the probability of introducing innovations at work, using logistic regression.
Findings
Several kinds of competencies are found to increase the probability that graduates introduce innovations at work: professional and creative, communications and championing, and brokering do so, while productivity/efficiency does not. Education programmes emphasising the development of entrepreneurial skills and problem‐based learning also promote innovation. Graduates in engineering are particularly innovative, whereas business and administration graduates are least innovative.
Research limitations/implications
The central implication is that intrapreneurial competencies are learnable. The results refer specifically to higher educated persons, five years after graduation.
Practical implications
Organisations that aim at stimulating employee‐driven innovation need to emphasise the development of intrapreneurial, and especially, brokering competencies. Higher education institutions should put more emphasis on the development of entrepreneurial competencies, for example through problem‐based learning.
Originality/value
The study makes an empirical contribution to theories of intrapreneurship and competency‐based innovation, by examining a wide range of competencies that promote innovation by graduate professionals in Europe.
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Ekaterina Turkina and Nasrin Sultana
The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and cities and how the relationship between multinational enterprise (MNEs) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and cities and how the relationship between multinational enterprise (MNEs) and local firms facilitates regional cleantech innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a combination of social network analysis, regression analysis and interview analysis, the authors map and analyze a cleantech cluster to investigate the relationship between MNEs and local firms and the resulting effects on cleantech innovation.
Findings
The findings of the paper indicate that FDI plays a crucial role in cities and their local clusters by acting as a broker between a diverse set of actors: firms, institutions, universities, financial and other intermediaries. Additionally, connectedness to MNEs improves local firms’ innovation.
Research limitations/implications
This study is not free of limitations, mainly, because of the aspects that the analysis is based on one city and one cleantech hub. Further research could verify whether the findings of this paper hold in other cities and industries.
Practical implications
The findings, elucidating the connection between MNEs and local firms, as well as MNEs being important brokers in the local system, and the resulting impact, will help policymakers to take appropriate actions and support the local cleantech innovation. It is important to not only attract high-quality FDI into local clusters, but also to create and support collaborations between foreign firms and local actors, because colocation does not automatically leads to positive spillovers and a lot depends on how MNEs are integrated into the local milieu.
Social implications
The present paper argues that FDI plays an important role in local cleantech innovation and it is important to integrate foreign firms in local social networks.
Originality/value
The authors analyze FDI patterns in an emerging industry at the city and local cluster level using a unique database containing the information on relationships between MNEs and local firms, as well as interview data.