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Oliver Gassmann
Title
Prof. Dr.
Last Name
Gassmann
First name
Oliver
Email
oliver.gassmann@unisg.ch
Phone
+41 71 224 72 21
Homepage
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1 - 10 of 43
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PublicationType: journal articleJournal: Strategic Entrepreneurship JournalVolume: 13Issue: 1DOI: 10.1002/sej.1305
Scopus© Citations 49 -
PublicationPull the Right Levers: Creating Internationally ‘Useful' Subsidiary Competence by Organizational ArchitectureWe study the effect of formal organizational architecture on the extent to which a focal subsidiary creates competence that is "useful" to other units of a multinational corporation (MNC). Elements of formal organizational architecture represent levers by which parent firm and subsidiary managers can realize their intentions. Building on motivation theory, we argue that an appropriate organizational architecture stimulates a subsidiary's motivation to create internationally "useful" competence so that its extent of competence creation will increase. We develop and empirically test hypotheses for three specific organizational elements, viz.: a home-base augmenting mission, interfaces with other MNC units, and the subsidiary's strategic and operational autonomy. Unique survey data from 287 subsidiaries provide intimate insights into the internal structure of MNCs and strongly support our account. We close by discussing the implications of our study for the academic literature, management practice, and future research.Type: journal articleJournal: Long Range PlanningVolume: 47Issue: 1-2
Scopus© Citations 16 -
PublicationResource constraints as triggers of radical innovation: Longitudinal evidence from the manufacturing sectorDespite the significant role of radical innovation as a driver of firm growth and performance, the consequences of resource constraints for radical innovation outcomes remain unknown. Our paper addresses this gap. We combine arguments from entrepreneurship theory and the theory of recombinative innovation to construct an overarching theoretical framework that argues why resource constraints can promote, rather than impede, radical innovation. We then build hypotheses on two specific resource constraints, knowledge and financial, and test these by a lagged-variable random-effects Tobit model with longitudinal data from an exceptionally large and detailed innovation survey. Controlling for absorptive capacity, firm age, and firm growth, we find full support for the hypothesis that knowledge constraints spur radical innovation and partial support for the hypothesis that financial constraints spur radical innovation. We discuss the theoretical significance of these findings and point to managerial implications and paths for future research.Type: journal articleJournal: Research PolicyVolume: 42Issue: 8
Scopus© Citations 103 -
PublicationThe Strategic Management of Innovation : A Systematic Review and Paths for Future ResearchStrategic management scholars have long emphasized the importance of innovation for a firm's competitive advantage and performance. However, the current state of knowledge about the strategic management of innovation is characterized by conflicting theoretical predictions, persisting knowledge gaps and theoretical inconsistencies. Adopting a ‘systematic' approach to reviewing the literature, this paper combines different quantitative methods - co-word analysis, cluster analysis and frequency analysis - to review 342 articles on the strategic management of innovation published in seven journals from 1992 to 2010. On the basis of these analyses, suggestions are developed for future research which could help to promote future theory development and provide relevant material for policy decisions that managers and executives have to make when they manage innovation.Type: journal articleJournal: International Journal of Management ReviewsVolume: 14Issue: 04
Scopus© Citations 395 -
PublicationHow do foreign R&D units in China manage their Chinese R&D staff? An empirical explorationWhereas extant literature has explored the question of why foreign R&D is present in China, we still know almost nothing about how these R&D operations are managed. This applies specifically to the management of Chinese R&D staff who conventionally are not known for their respect of foreign firms' intellectual property rights (IPR). However, foreign R&D units in China are likely to have developed management techniques to deal with such problems. In this paper, we engage in qualitative and quantitative exploration of how foreign R&D units in China manage their Chinese R&D staff. For exploration we develop a conceptual framework on the basis of agency theory and the theory of trusted relationships. Our findings show that those R&D units that have developed adequate measures to manage their Chinese R&D staff have succeeded in making Chinese employees loyal to the R&D unit. These results have important implications for both practitioners and future empirical research.Type: journal articleJournal: International Journal of Technology ManagementVolume: 56Issue: 1
Scopus© Citations 2 -
PublicationType: journal articleJournal: Management International ReviewVolume: 51Issue: 2
Scopus© Citations 42 -
PublicationEnforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Weak Appropriability Regimes : The Case of de Facto Protection Strategies in ChinaMany emerging economies are characterised by weak appropriability systems and absent legal systems to punish imitators. This places foreign firms' intellectual property rights at risk, because existing appropriation methods, such as patents or secrecy, cannot function effectively. This concern especially applies to China, the empirical context of this article. Such adverse conditions force managers to devise new strategies to safeguard their firms' intellectual property rights. Yet no evidence describes whether strategies exist, which forms they take, how they have evolved or how they get implemented. This article addresses this knowledge gap and explores strategies that managers have developed to achieve de facto protection, despite China's weak appropriability system. The analysis systematically explores 13 cases of foreign firms with wholly owned subsidiaries in China. The findings confirm that de facto strategies exist, describe how they work and detail how they were achieved. The findings suggest implications for both managers and academics.Type: journal articleJournal: Management International ReviewVolume: 50Issue: 1
Scopus© Citations 67 -
PublicationHow managers protect the intellectual property rights in China using de facto strategiesForeign firms trying to protect their intellectual property rights (IPRs) in emerging economies are suffering real pressures because these economies usually offer little or no enforcement of IPR. Foreign firms therefore have to resort to approaches unlike those they use in developed countries. This paper explores what managers of foreign firms in China have already tried in their efforts to achieve effective IPR protection - specifically, they have crafted de facto strategies that can protect IPR without using China's legal system or engaging in lawsuits against imitators. These strategies work, and this paper explains how and why, thus offering a potential template for IPR protection in other economies with weak appropriability systems.Type: journal articleJournal: R & D ManagementVolume: 39Issue: 2
Scopus© Citations 62 -
PublicationDeterminants and archetype users of open innovationExtant research on open innovation (OI) offers no systematic insight of how and why firms differ regarding the extent to which they conduct OI activities. Whereas past theoretical contributions have focused on explaining the externalisation of R&D activities as a result of firm-external factors, we focus on explaining this externalisation as a result of firm-internal weaknesses, specifically, impediments to innovation. Using the exploration-exploitation dichotomy as our theoretical framework, we develop hypotheses on how impediments to innovation influence the breadth and depth of OI. We then test these hypotheses by using an exceptionally large and detailed data set to estimate population-averaged panel models. Our results provide support for most of the hypothesised relationships. Further, they allow to identify four ‘archetypes' of firms that differ significantly regarding the breadth and depth of OI and the importance of impediments. Finally, we discuss the significance of these findings for both academics and managers.Type: journal articleJournal: R & D ManagementVolume: 39Issue: 4
Scopus© Citations 274 -
PublicationInternational Innovation and Strategic Initiatives: A Research AgendaDespite the argument that to leverage the expertise of foreign subsidiaries to the global firm is beneficial to the whole firm's competitive advantage, in the case of international innova-tion, such leverage does hardly take place. We investigate into this paradox, applying re-search on strategic initiatives to the context of international R&D. Developing a conceptual model on the basis of communication psychology, we analyse how the innovatory expertise of R&D subsidiaries can be leveraged to the global firm. Thus, we determine six elements the greater exploration of which can lead to a deeper understanding of how the innovatory exper-tise of a foreign R&D subsidiary may be leveraged to the global firm.Type: journal articleJournal: Research in International Business and FinanceVolume: 23Issue: 2
Scopus© Citations 9