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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 - 7 of 7
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PublicationOrganizing for reverse innovation in Western MNCs: the role of frugal product innovation capabilitiesThe burgeoning phenomenon of reverse innovation - i.e., innovations which are adopted first in the developing world - has attracted much academic and managerial attention. However, while existing literature has extensively discussed the risks and opportunities of reverse in-novation for Western multinational companies (MNCs), there is little empirical insight in the question how reverse innovation is organized in the firm. This article investigates how Western MNCs of the healthcare and electronics industries organize their international R&D for reverse innovation. Based on the insights of four case studies, we find that the location of the product mandate (i.e., at the headquarters or the subsidiary) is independent of the MNC's ability to generate reverse innovation. In contrast, we find that the design and development of reverse product innovations are always located in the MNC's subsidiary based in a resource-constrained environment. We argue that the development of frugal product innovation capabilities is a critical success factor in the development of reverse innovation. The article holds important implications for theory and management practice.Type: journal articleJournal: International Journal of Technology ManagementVolume: 64Issue: 2-4
Scopus© Citations 69 -
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 -
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 -
PublicationThe Internationalisation of Western Firm's R&D to ChinaDuring the last 10 years, 400 out of the Fortune Top 500 have established at least one R&D unit in China. We investigate into this highly relevant phenomenon that seems to contradict existing theory on international R&D. We propose that there is a missing link in theory, developing this link by theory building that draws on Cohen and Levinthal's absorptive capacity. We test our propositions by using data from a survey we did on Western firms' R&D activities in China. Results show a good applicability of our concept and its relations to competitive advantage the-ory.Type: journal articleJournal: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small BusinessVolume: 6Issue: 4
Scopus© Citations 6 -
PublicationThe Internationalisation of R&D in Swiss and German Born Globals: Survey and Case Study EvidenceWhile IE literature neglects international innovative activities of born globals (BGs), literature on international innovation management focusses on large firms only. We investigate into this gap, proposing a framework to understand where and why BGs engage in such activities. We operationalise and test this framework with both quantitative and qualitative data. Focussing on the Chinese business environment, and resorting to an organisational learning and competitive advantage perspective, we show that the basic motivation for the conduct of international innovatory activities is independent of firm size yet particularly attractive for BGs to generate and sustain competitive advantage on an international basis.Type: journal articleJournal: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small BusinessVolume: 4Issue: 3
Scopus© Citations 13 -
PublicationWhy Do Local Chinese Manage Foreign R&D Units in China? Towards a Multiplicative Capacity ViewDuring the last 10 years, 400 out of the Fortune Top 500 have established at least one R&D unit in China. Surprisingly, more and more of these are being managed by local Chinese whereas theory would suggest management by expatriates. We investigate into this highly relevant phenomenon that seems to contradict existing theory on international R&D. From a discussion of agency theory and resource based perspectives on this problem, we develop hypotheses, contending that Western firms' R&D units acquire capabilities in China and trans-fer them out of China, using local Chinese managers to foster this process. We then set out to test our hypotheses, using data from a survey we did on Western firms' R&D in China. Our results show that if the firm can overcome uncertainty avoidance and information asym-metry by establishing trust, management of foreign R&D by local Chinese can serve to multi-ply capabilities generated by the Chinese R&D unit throughout the whole firm. Finally, we use these results to propose an extension of Cohen and Levinthal's absorptive capacity which we term 'multiplicative capacity'. Finally, we use this framework to reason how firms can leverage competitive advantage on an international basis by not just absorbing local capabilities, but by multiplying them through-out the global firm.Type: conference paper
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