Kwanghui Lim Copyright (c) 2012 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui Recent documents in Kwanghui Lim en-us Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:50:25 PST 3600 The Innovative Organisation http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/20 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/20 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:03:02 PDT Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Technology Strategy Business Policy New Models for book Publishing http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/19 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/19 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:40:56 PDT Kwanghui Lim Managing Intellectual Property Technology Strategy Who Owns the News? Discussant Comments http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/18 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/18 Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:21:10 PDT Discussant Comments (video and slides) for a panel on the future of the News.

News Corporation is about to start charging for online access to its news. It says the future of old media in the digital age is that consumers will pay for online news content in a similar way as for hard copy ‘newspapers' – and it seems to be far from alone in its plans. But is this a sound approach in legal and business terms? The question is examined by a distinguished panel of legal and economic experts.

Video: http://vimeo.com/13200510

Follow the link on this page for a pdf file of my presentation

]]> Kwanghui Lim Technology Strategy Technology Policy Business Policy IdeaCHECK: BCG report on The Innovation Imperative in Manufacturing http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/17 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/17 Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:30:33 PDT In March, the Boston Consulting Group published a report on "The Innovation Imperative in Manufacturing". The report assesses the level of competitiveness of US firms, both across different states of the US as well as in comparison to other countries. Here is my IdeaCHECK on the report: http://cite.org.au/store/viewitem.asp?idProduct=573.

]]> Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Technology Policy Should Genes be Patented - Introduction to the IPRIA&CITE Public Event http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/16 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/16 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:09:36 PDT Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Senate Inquiry into Gene Patents: CITE & IPRIA Submission http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/15 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/15 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:19:24 PDT There is as yet no empirical work available that carefully examines the relationship between gene patenting and the costs of providing healthcare, the training and accreditation of healthcare professionals, and progress in medical research. Thorough and careful empirical studies are needed – and on a broader scale than currently exists – to form the basis of policy decisions.

]]> Kwanghui Lim et al. Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Old Technological Capability and New Technology Adoption: Firm’s Technology Portfolio Management during Technological Transitions http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/14 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/14 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:36:32 PDT Research qns: What’s the effect of a firm’s prior competence in old technology on its innovation capability in new technology? Under what conditions would such effects be enhanced or reduced? Preview of results: We find that competence in old technology has a negative effect on patenting in new technological fields. Interdependence between old and new fields offsets this result, but not interdependence between complementary and new technology.

]]> Wenyue Zhuang et al. Knowledge Flows Technology Strategy “Blackberry versus NTP.” http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/13 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/13 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:20:12 PDT This case concerns a dispute between a US inventor and a Canadian technology company over patent infringement. The technology in question is an essential part of the BlackBerry communications device and the innovation is the wireless receipt of e-mail. The resulting legal battle threatened to shut down the BlackBerry system leaving millions of users, including essential government employees in the US and elsewhere, without their main communications tool. The inventor sought compensation for infringement through a company that operated solely to manage intellectual property. The case raises important issues in the strategic management of intellectual property.

]]> Kwanghui Lim et al. Managing Intellectual Property ideacheck: Venturous Australia http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/12 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/12 Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:37:20 PDT I present an analysis of the Australian National Innovation Review (2008). Follow the link to the original on the Center for Ideas and the Economy website. The original PDF contains formatting that is lost in the online version.

Background:

In September, 2008, the Australian Government released a report, venturousaustralia, containing a comprehensive review of the national innovation system ("The Review"). It was assembled by Dr Terry Cutler along with an 11-member expert panel, and also incorporates suggestions from over 600 public submissions. It calls for urgent action because over the past decade, Australia has fallen behind its peer countries to a dramatic degree in terms of its investments in education and R&D (Nelson, 1983). This is a source of concern because it is unclear how long more the boom in natural resources will continue to fuel the economy; innovation is therefore seen as an important source of future growth.

]]> Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Thesis http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/11 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/11 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:38:57 PDT This thesis comprises three essays on the relationships among basic research, applied research, and innovation. Earlier research emphasized that absorbing external knowledge requires effort and investment (Cohen and Levinthal, 1989; 1990). This thesis explores various mechanisms through which absorptive capacity is developed, including a firm's R&D, its connectedness to the external scientific community, the provision of a science-oriented research environment, and investment in basic research. The chief contribution of this dissertation is to document the many ways in which firms develop absorptive capacity, and how absorptive capacity varies across industry, stage of technology development, and scientific area.

The first essay explores how firms develop different kinds of absorptive capacity. A firm’s absorptive capacity depends upon internal R&D and its connectedness to universities, other firms and R&D consortia. R&D is effective for absorbing disciplinary knowledge; alternative mechanisms are useful for domain-specific knowledge. A science-oriented research environment is not necessary, as long as the firm remains connected through other means. To illustrate, I trace knowledge spillovers of copper interconnect technology for semiconductors.

The second essay examines the concentration of basic and applied research relative to innovation. In the semiconductor industry, basic research is surprisingly concentrated relative to innovation. Since spillovers are prevalent in this industry, I conclude that many semiconductor firms capture spillovers without performing much basic research. In the pharmaceutical industry, basic research and innovation have similar concentrations. In both industries, applied research is not concentrated relative to innovation.

The third essay examines researchers at five firms. Given two researchers with the same number of publications at IBM, AT&T, or Intel, the one who publishes a higher fraction of her papers in basic research journals is less likely to patent. These researchers face a tradeoff between participating in basic and applied research (Allen, 1977). The opposite holds at Merck and DuPont, where researchers who publish a higher fraction of papers in basic scientific journals obtain more patents. Thus, basic research has a positive impact on pharmaceutical patents (Gambardella, 1992; Cockburn and Henderson, 1998). Within Dupont and Merck, patenting is most closely associated with publications in basic chemistry, and with pharmaceutical R&D.

Thesis Committee: Scott Stern (Chair) Assistant Professor Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, MIT Rebecca Henderson Eastman Kodak LFM Professor of Management Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, MIT Eric von Hippel Professor, Management of Innovation Alfred P. Sloan School of Management, MIT

]]> Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Technology Strategy Entry and Competitive Dynamics in the Mobile Telecommunications Market http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/10 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/10 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:24:29 PDT We propose an extension of the Gans-Stern (2003) framework that includes entry by existing firms. An incumbent firm possessing complementary assets and strong appropriability is in a formidable position (Teece, 1986). However, a de alio entrant can leverage complementary assets to enter along a new technological trajectory, and then develop appropriability. We illustrate how several mobile telecommunications firms (Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung) pursued this strategy to catch up with the market leader (Motorola). We also identify several shortcomings in Motorola’s approach: it was too inward-looking in developing technologies, but ironically not inward-looking enough in exploiting its most valuable patents.

]]> Zi-lin Wong et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Technology Strategy The Effects of Social Networks and Contractual Characteristics on the Relationship between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/9 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/9 Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:07:07 PDT We show how social ties and contractual factors shape the relationship between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. While direct ties result in the VC offering more advice to the entrepreneur, indirect ties result in greater levels of disagreement between VC and entrepreneur. We also find that contractual favorableness is associated with more advice and less disagreement, but that contractual flexibility is surprisingly not significant. The results vary by area of advice and disagreement. Our results suggest that scholars and practitioners must integrate contractual and social network perspectives to better understand the VC-entrepreneur relationship.

]]> Kwanghui Lim et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Internal Human Capital, Strategic Alliances and the Innovation Performance of Biotechnology Firms http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/8 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/8 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:51:10 PDT We assess the roles of internal human capital and strategic alliances as antecedents of innovation at the firm and the network levels, respectively, and investigate the effects of their interdependence on firms’ innovation performance. At the firm level, we identify three types of human capital that contribute directly to innovative capability: (1) pure scientists (2) bridging scientists, and (3) pure inventors. At the network level, we explore the performance effects of the firm’s strategic alliances with universities as well as with other firms. Building upon the literature on innovation, we highlight two perspectives on human capital and strategic alliances, which predict opposite moderating effects of the two antecedents of innovation. We reconcile these disparate views by showing that the direction of the moderating effect is contingent upon the types of human capital and strategic alliances involved. Using patent, publication and alliance data from 222 biotechnology firms, we find diminishing returns to university alliances when pure scientists and bridging scientists are involved, whereas the benefits of industry alliances are enhanced in the presence of all three forms of human capital. The findings also suggest that the benefits derived from strategic alliances depend on whether or not they are an extension of the social relationships of human capital within the firm. The reinforcing and substitutive effects of internal human capital on the alliance benefits imply the possible roles that company scientists can play in shaping the alliance portfolios of biotechnology firms.

]]> Pek-hooi Soh et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Knowledge Search and its Effects on the International Diffusion of Knowledge http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/7 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/7 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:29:49 PDT While research has shown that knowledge spillovers are geographically localized, the globalization of R&D is making international knowledge diffusion increasingly important. We propose that the propensity and speed with which technological knowledge diffuses across national borders is influenced by signals and cues during the search for new knowledge. In the context of the global information storage technology, we show that patented knowledge with high technological impact has higher propensity and speed of international diffusion than low impact knowledge. Moreover, an organization’s technological strength increases the likelihood and speed of international citation of its innovations, while internal appropriation efforts reduce diffusion.

]]> Wenyue Zhuang et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Open Innovation and Patterns of R&D Competition http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/6 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/6 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:14:16 PDT We explore the technological evolution of three microprocessor firms between 1976 and 2004. We trace how two initially small entrants (Intel and AMD) competed against a larger and more established incumbent (IBM). We show that changes in inter-firm relationships (as reflected by competitive and cooperative events) affect patenting strategies. Periods of increased competition correspond to greater patenting within patent classes in which the firms compete head-on. Periods of cooperation are surprisingly not always accompanied by increased patenting in complementary upstream and downstream areas. Despite changes in competitive regime, Intel and AMD exhibit a persistent dependence upon IBM for technology. Our study shows that small firms can compete against a large incumbent in the product market while being dependent upon external sources for knowledge. We also suggest ways in which incumbent firms operating in such environments (e.g., IBM) might engage with these entrants through co-opetition and open innovation.

]]> Kwanghui Lim et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Technology Strategy The Antecedents and Innovation Consequences of Organizational Knowledge Brokering Capability http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/5 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/5 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:10:02 PDT We empirically examine the antecedents and innovation consequences of organizational knowledge brokering capability, the ability to effectively apply knowledge from one technical domain to innovate in another. We do so by tracking all the start-up biotechnology firms founded to commercialize the then-emergent recombinant DNA technology. We examine how firms’ interaction with their external environment helps shape their heterogeneous knowledge brokering capacity, which in turn is associated with uneven ex-post innovative performance. Our results suggest that (a) knowledge brokering capability is achieved by hiring inventors with different technical backgrounds, more so than other boundary-spanning mechanisms typically available to start-ups; (b) knowledge brokering has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovative performance; and (c) knowledge brokering is especially helpful for innovative performance in more complex technological environments.

]]> David Hsu et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Technology Strategy The Many Faces of Absorptive Capacity: Spillovers of Copper Interconnect Technology for Semiconductor Chips http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/4 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/4 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:06:37 PDT A case study of copper interconnect technology suggests that absorptive capacity exist in three forms: disciplinary, domain specific and encoded. Each involves different ways of managing R&D and linking internal to external research. Disciplinary absorptive capacity requires a firm to actively engage with the scientific community, while protecting domain-specific knowledge. Domain-specific absorptive capacity depends upon influencing disciplinary research at universities and consortia, then capturing domain knowledge through collaboration and hiring. As technology develops, it becomes encoded, and absorption depends increasingly upon integrating knowledge from suppliers. Hence, absorptive capacity is a multifaceted construct that is heavily shaped by the type and maturity of technology absorbed. capacity depends upon influencing disciplinary research at universities and consortia, then capturing domain knowledge through collaboration and hiring. As a technology develops, it becomes encoded, and absorption depends increasingly upon integrating knowledge from suppliers. Hence, absorptive capacity is a multifaceted construct that is heavily shaped by the type and maturity of technology absorbed.

]]> Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Technology Strategy The Relationship between Research and Innovation in the Semiconductor and Pharmaceutical Industries (1981-97) http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/3 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/3 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 23:03:09 PDT This paper evaluates the impact of basic and applied research on innovation in two industries. Whereas innovation in the pharmaceutical industry is closely tied to both basic and applied research, innovation in the semiconductor industry depends mainly upon applied research. Surprisingly, many firms perform little basic research, but they produce many innovations. Within each industry, firms pursue different R&D strategies: firms that emphasize basic research absorb more basic scientific knowledge than those that emphasize applied research. These findings suggest that future research must carefully consider how industry context and the composition of R&D mediate the relationship between research and innovation.

]]> Kwanghui Lim Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Entry and Competitive Dynamics in the Mobile Telecommunications Market http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/2 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/2 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:57:10 PDT We propose an extension of the Gans–Stern [Gans, J.S., Stern, S., 2003. The product market and the market for “ideas”: commercialization strategies for technology entrepreneurs. Research Policy 32 (2), 333–350] framework that includes entry by existing firms. An incumbent firm possessing complementary assets and strong appropriability is in a formidable position [Teece, D.J., 1986. Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing, and public policy. Research Policy 15 (6), 285–305]. However, a de alio entrant can leverage complementary assets to enter along a new technological trajectory, and then develop appropriability. We illustrate how several mobile telecommunications firms (Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung) pursued this strategy to catch up with the market leader (Motorola). We also identify several shortcomings in Motorola's approach: it was too inward-looking in developing technologies, but ironically not inward-looking enough in exploiting its most valuable patents.

]]> Zi-lin He et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Technology Strategy The Impact of Acquisitions on the Innovation Performance of Inventors at Semiconductor Companies http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/1 http://works.bepress.com/kwanghui/1 Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:52:59 PDT We show how knowledge-based and incentive-based perspectives complement each other to explain the effects of acquisitions on the productivity of inventors from acquired firms. Incentive-based theories account for their lower productivity relative to that of inventors at nonacquired firms, and both perspectives jointly explain why their productivity converges with that of inventors from acquiring firms. Higher productivity is achieved when there is greater overlap in routines and moderate overlap in skills, and when the acquired firm is large relative to its acquirer. This study clarifies the subtle manner in which incentives and the knowledge-based view are intertwined.

]]> Rahul Kapoor et al. Knowledge Flows Managing Intellectual Property Managing Scientists and Engineers Technology Strategy