2023-04-132023-04-13https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/59158The aim of my research project is to explain the antecedents and performance consequences of pioneering strategies in the semiconductor industry. Moving first or pioneering refers to a firm's ability to launch a new product ahead of its competitors. I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of being a pioneer, as opposed to a follower, and the benefits and risks associated with the decision taken in a fast pacing, high-technology industry. Compared to the consequences of the entry process on the results obtained by the firm, a significantly less amount of research has been devoted to the investigation of the factors that affect the timing of entry into a new product market. In the semiconductor industry, I argue that besides a firm's technical knowledge base, commercial knowledge impacts the timing of a new product innovation and thus a firm's ability to pioneer a product. In order to find evidence for the theory, I followed a two step approach. From January until July 2004, discussions and several interviews with senior executives of a leading semiconductor firm in Europe are conducted. This gave me the opportunity to gain a deep understanding on the semiconductor industry and preliminary evidence on the proposed model. Additionally, following a quantitative approach, archival data on product innovations, patents and firm reports are analyzed in order to find further empirical evidence for the proposed model.dissertation project