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Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Hans Löfsten

This study aims to analyse organisational capabilities among new technology-based firms (NTBFs) and examine how these capabilities are linked to the firms’ long-term survival.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse organisational capabilities among new technology-based firms (NTBFs) and examine how these capabilities are linked to the firms’ long-term survival.

Design/methodology/approach

The study leverages a data set of 131 NTBFs located at 16 incubators in Sweden. The first part of the analysis seeks suitable organisational capabilities as determinants of firm survival. The second part is a statistical analysis. The organisational capabilities comprise six variables concerning business experience, financing and international markets.

Findings

The study comprises two data collections, with the first data collection being conducted in 2005, and the second in 2014. The survival rate for these firms was 55 per cent according to their respective annual reports in 2013. First, this study showed that the logistic regression model that included the three organisational capabilities is significant. Second, one variable is significant at the variable level: business experience. In addition, the control variable firm size is also significant.

Originality/value

Further empirical research in this area is required as the current research on organisational capabilities is quite limited and mainly conceptual in nature. Very few related studies focus on NTBFs and their survival. This study demonstrates a significant logistic regression model to determine links between organisational capabilities and firm survival.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 28 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 2 June 2022

Heikki Rannikko, Mickaël Buffart, Anders Isaksson, Hans Löfsten and Erno T. Tornikoski

This study investigates a mediational model between legitimated elements, financial resource mobilisation and subsequent early firm growth among New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates a mediational model between legitimated elements, financial resource mobilisation and subsequent early firm growth among New Technology-Based Firms (NTBFs) using conformity and control perspectives of legitimacy.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the hypotheses, a longitudinal database of 303 NTBFs from Sweden, Finland and France is used. The ordinary least square regression analysis method is applied, and the proposed mediation relationships are studied by employing the four-step approach developed by Baron and Kenny (1986).

Findings

This study finds that based on the conformity principle, two out of three legitimated elements (business plan and incubator relationship, but not start-up experience) have an impact on financial resource mobilisation, which in turn, is associated with early growth in NTBFs based on the control principle. Thus, financial resource mobilisation positively mediates the relationships among the two legitimated elements and early growth in NTBFs.

Research limitations/implications

This study has several limitations, which also generate promising pathways for future research. Future research should study the relationship between the three legitimacy elements and financial resource mobilisation and early growth across a wider range of firms and settings. The questionnaire was also based on a single point in time and could not capture the evolving nature of the legitimacy elements and fundraising. Hence, future research can examine the multidimensionality of these processes; longitudinal qualitative studies can be a complement, allowing for a better understanding of the impact of legitimacy on NTBFs.

Practical implications

The findings offer implications for managers of NTBFs because developing legitimacy is critical to NTBFs early growth and development. The findings indicate that NTBFs' founders must systematically develop business plans and that incubators help enhance legitimacy through a signalling.

Social implications

It is believed that the study meaningfully contributes to the collective understanding of the role of legitimacy in driving the development of NTBFs. Given the importance of NTBFs in our economies, coupled with the lack of attention given to the role of mobilisation of external resources in explaining NTBF early growth, it is believed that the study is both timely and important.

Originality/value

The findings meaningfully contribute to the collective understanding of NTBF growth. While there are studies that have examined the antecedents of growth and finance separately, this study proposes a novel mediational model that integrates both and tests it empirically.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 28 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 8 February 2016

Hans Löfsten

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze how new technology-based firms’ (NTBF) business and innovation resources affect firm survival.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how new technology-based firms’ (NTBF) business and innovation resources affect firm survival.

Design/methodology/approach

The study leverages a data set comprised of 131 Swedish NTBFs located in 16 incubators. The first part of the analysis investigates the determinants of firm survival, and the second presents a statistical analysis. The business resources examined in this study consist of business planning and localization variables and four latent variables are developed. Patents at the firm start or during the firm’s first three years are considered as innovation resources.

Findings

First, this study shows that the latent business plans variable has a significant positive connection with firm survival. Second, patent development during firms’ initial years is critical to firm survival.

Originality/value

This study is longitudinal, with the first data collection occurring in 2005 and the second in 2014. The firms’ 2013 annual reports suggest that the firms’ survival rate is 55 percent. This longitudinal research that spans eight years shows how the development of patents is highly significant to firm survival.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 54 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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Article
Publication date: 1 July 2006

Paul Dettwiler, Peter Lindelöf and Hans Löfsten

What effect do different business environments, caused primarily by changes in GDP, have on property management of growth firms?

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Abstract

Purpose

What effect do different business environments, caused primarily by changes in GDP, have on property management of growth firms?

Design/methodology/approach

This paper investigates the dynamic effects of two successive periods on property management variables with data from 387 Swedish growth firms during the six year period of 1998‐2003. The variables cover two three‐year time periods: 1998‐2000 (high growth of GDP) and 2001‐2003 (low growth of GDP). The empery originates from a quantitative survey with variables related to: office areas; affiliation changes (events of M&A, outsourcing of core business has occurred) and if those events have changed the total use of office space; use of temporary staff and staff that works in office area; flexibility of contracts; propensity to rent office space and location events. Dramatic changes of GDP are here associated to the dynamic effects of the business environment that have implications on property management variables of the two periods.

Findings

The two periods themselves correlate strongly to each other. The results reveal correlations between down turn‐business period and variables that describe the hiring temporary staff; propensity to rent office spaces; significance of flexible contracts; office location in rural area and relocation frequency.

Research limitations/implications

The survey is limited geographically to Sweden with strict growth criteria. The findings argue for a behaviour among growth firms that responds to changes in business environment into property management decisions.

Practical implications

Dramatic changes in GDP influence growth firms behaviour of renting office spaces; down turn of GDP is likely related in particular to increase of rented offices space.

Originality/value

Empery from an extensive survey of growth firms of an entire country with focus on property management variables during two distinct periods regarding GDP.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 7 January 2014

Hans Löfsten

This paper is concerned with the management and organization of product innovation processes, and how innovation performance relates to business performance. The underlying…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper is concerned with the management and organization of product innovation processes, and how innovation performance relates to business performance. The underlying rationale is that encouraging firms to innovate will lead to a better business performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study leverages a data set of 99 medium-sized technology firms in Sweden. The first part of the analysis in this study aims at finding determinants of product innovation processes, and the second part is the analysis and trade-off between innovation performance and business performance. First, a research framework is developed in which the link between strategic dimensions, process dimensions and organizational dimensions of product innovation activity and product innovation performance is tested. Second, the research framework tests the relationship between innovation performance and business performance (sales and profitability).

Findings

Product innovation performance (patent) is affected by seven variables of the 14 variables that represent product innovation processes. Product innovation performance is not affected by firm size, firm age, branch and product life cycles and, in the regression model, all three innovation performance variables (patents, copyrights and licenses) have a positive effect on the firm's sales, but there were no connections to the firm's profitability.

Originality/value

The main implication of the study is the idea supporting a multi-aspects approach to the product innovation processes and performance since product innovation process dimensions (variables used in the study) have only partial influence on innovation-/business performance.

Details

European Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-1060

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Article
Publication date: 1 July 1999

Hans Löfsten

One of the main problems, when choosing between preventive or corrective maintenance for the production and maintenance departments in the eight firms studied, is to attempt to…

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Abstract

One of the main problems, when choosing between preventive or corrective maintenance for the production and maintenance departments in the eight firms studied, is to attempt to establish the state of a particular production system or individual production line. In order to carry out a cost analysis it is imperative to be able to measure how preventive maintenance will both reduce the deterioration of the state of the object and improve the state of the object at the point in time that the maintenance is carried out. This can be explained by the fact that the departments lack methods for measuring and estimating the effects. The model presented in this paper determines whether to schedule preventive maintenance and the model trades off the capital costs of preventive maintenance and the sum of corrective maintenance and down‐time costs based on the production line’s state.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 19 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

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Article
Publication date: 18 October 2011

Maximilian Pasche, Magnus Persson and Hans Löfsten

The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects of platforms on new product development (NPD) projects. Emphasis has been put on the following effect categories: project…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects of platforms on new product development (NPD) projects. Emphasis has been put on the following effect categories: project performance, process changes, and the use of performance measurements.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on data collected in a survey of Swedish manufacturing firms. The survey collected data on platform characteristics and NPD characteristics. This paper reports correlations and regression analyses of the different variables.

Findings

The application of a platform strategy leads to a significant increase of component commonality on the product program level. However, it was observed that firms still have problems with sticking to project budgets in terms of cost and lead‐time restrictions. Moreover, platform implementation often involves significant process adaptations. Finally, it showed that firms are hardly applying measurements to follow up on their platform‐related activities.

Research limitations/implications

It appears that predictions made in current literature regarding platform effects are not generally valid for all firms. Therefore, this study indicates that there may be contingencies affecting the applicability of a platform strategy for specific firms.

Practical implications

Owing to potential contingencies affecting the applicability of platforms, firms have to carefully consider if a platform strategy is promising in their specific situation. Moreover, product platform implementation does not only demand an adaptation of product structures but also involves significant process adaptations.

Originality/value

By statistically testing effects of platforms on product development performance, the tendency of the current literature towards case‐based research is overcome. Hereby, the findings of current literature are challenged in terms of their generalizability.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 31 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

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Article
Publication date: 22 August 2019

Bala Subrahmanya Mungila Hillemane, Krishna Satyanarayana and Deepak Chandrashekar

Technology business incubators (TBIs) form an indispensable part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the promotion of tech start-ups across the global economy. However, they have…

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Abstract

Purpose

Technology business incubators (TBIs) form an indispensable part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem for the promotion of tech start-ups across the global economy. However, they have evolved in varied forms over a period of time, in terms of typologies, sponsors and stakeholders, goals and objectives, functions and services offered, process of incubation support provided through hard and soft infrastructure, outcomes and achievements and even in terms of theoretical bases. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to review the extant literature on TBIs to arrive at a framework that explains how TBIs contribute to start-up generation.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews extant empirical literature for a systematic evaluation to throw light on the various dimensions of TBIs: typology, goals and objectives, functions and services, process and provision of incubation support, outcomes and achievements. Further, after critically reviewing some of the theoretical propositions, it develops a conceptual framework combining pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation processes of TBIs.

Findings

Based on literature understanding and some of the key theoretical constructs, a conceptual framework is developed comprising pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation stages of start-up formation and graduation. The paper also identifies some prospective areas for future research.

Research limitations/implications

Any empirical research on technology business incubation must focus on pre-incubation and post-incubation processes as much as on the incubation process, to derive meaningful implications and enhance the productivity of TBIs.

Originality/value

The conceptual framework derived out of the systematic literature review will enable further research and exploration of micro-aspects of pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation phases across multiple dimensions.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 25 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 12 April 2022

Philip Coombes

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a bibliometric analysis of the evolution and structure of business model research in industrial marketing scholarship…

643

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a bibliometric analysis of the evolution and structure of business model research in industrial marketing scholarship during the period between 2011 and 2020 and to discuss potential directions for future empirical research.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric methodologies are deployed to objectively evaluate the business model research that has made the most impact within industrial marketing scholarship as well as the prominent scholars and key topics driving the discipline at points in time.

Findings

The findings demonstrate the formative but increasing engagement that industrial marketing scholarship has had with business model literature and the limited but increasing degree that business models have influenced industrial marketing literature. Potential directions for the empirical development of business model literature are argued to lie in the areas of collaboration and coopetition by examining the notion of value within the relationships, interactions and/or networks evidenced in European seaports business models.

Research limitations/implications

Bibliometric analysis is retrospective in nature so developments in the literature appear only after some time has elapsed. Different keyword selection when formulating search strings for sampling may have brought some deviations in the analysis.

Originality/value

Research that investigates the link between business models and industrial marketing is still scarce. This paper is among the few that analyze objectively the evolution and structure of business model literature in industrial marketing scholarship from a longitudinal perspective with a particular emphasis on the period between 2011 and 2020.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 38 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

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Article
Publication date: 12 April 2019

Anderson Galvão, Carla Marques, Mário Franco and Carla Mascarenhas

Based on resource dependence theory and the concept of interlocking directorates, the purpose of this paper is to understand the importance of networks for start-ups and the role…

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Abstract

Purpose

Based on resource dependence theory and the concept of interlocking directorates, the purpose of this paper is to understand the importance of networks for start-ups and the role incubators play in these companies’ networking processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with the entrepreneurs responsible for three start-ups and the heads of their incubators. The interview data were subjected to content analysis using NVivo software.

Findings

The results indicate that start-ups often resort to networks to overcome their weak reputations and scarce resources. Incubators play a quite important role in this process since they promote events that encourage the creation of partnerships and networks either between start-ups within the same incubator or with external institutions. In addition, the results reveal that most cooperation networks are informal and that they fulfil needs that start-ups are not yet able to meet themselves, for example, when they compete for public tenders.

Practical implications

The present study explored this topic from two perspectives (i.e. start-ups and incubators). This approach facilitated the identification of the main features upon which start-ups depend, the entities to which these companies turn for help, the kind of communication in which they usually engage, the primary advantages of establishing cooperation networks and the main types of support given by incubators.

Originality/value

Most studies of cooperation networks are based on transaction cost economics, a resource-based perspective and/or institutional theory. In contrast, this study innovated by applying resource dependence theory and the concept of interlocking directorates, which provided an alternative explanation regarding cooperation networks’ importance to start-ups and incubators’ roles in these companies’ networking processes.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 57 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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