Management and Marketing - Theses
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ItemManagement practices that enhance innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology firms( 2006)Globalization and the exponential growth of information on genetics and DNA have led to major changes in the management practices and strategies in biotechnology organizations and in governments throughout the world. These changes include: • The growing recognition by organizations of the strategic importance of innovation management as "the engine of growth" and the key to long-term sustainability; • Increasing awareness by biotechnology organizations of the need to form strategic alliances in order to capitalise on market opportunities such as treatment of AIDS, Hepatitis C, and the growth of aged-related illnesses in industrialised countries; • The need to attract venture capital and large scale investment to fund the complex and lengthy clinical trial phases associated with the development of new drugs and treatments; and • The recognition by organisations of the growing importance of managing knowledge and intellectual capital as valuable strategic assets in a global marketplace which is highly competitive for skilled and experienced knowledge workers. Although there are many biotechnology organizations where the above management strategies have been successfully implemented, there is still considerable misunderstanding of the innovation process. There is also a widespread failure by the private and public sectors to recognize that the innovation process needs to be managed ‘from idea to market’. Some managers apply traditional short-term strategies to address the long-term challenges posed by the development of new drugs and treatments in the biotechnology industry. This is commonly referred to as "short-termism". The problem of short-termism becomes compounded because biotechnology is an emergent and disruptive technology undergoing rapid change and convergence with other technologies such as information technology. Anecdotal evidence and the limited number of empirical studies on management practices in the biotechnology industry suggest a lack of awareness and perception of innovation management and the requirements for developing innovation intensity as a prerequisite to effective innovation performance at the organizational level. The purpose of this research is to identify those management practices and strategies which enhance the innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology organizations. This was achieved by investigating the relationships between management practices and strategies with innovation intensity and performance. A model was developed as part of this research using a framework of constructs based on extensive research of the literature. This model was tested to identify the constructs and variables (comprising those constructs) which had a significant and positive relationship with innovation intensity and performance in biotechnology firms. Therefore, the model used in this research has been developed based on well grounded analytical techniques, established theory and multiple methodologies. Hypotheses were developed to test the relationships between the independent variable constructs, specific independent variables within the constructs, and the dependent variable construct (innovation intensity). The relationships were tested using a database consisting of 102 completed responses from Australia and 68 responses from Europe. Survey responses which were only partially completed were deleted from the database. The responses from Australia were mainly from Victoria and Queensland with a small number of responses from other States. The European responses were from 3 leading biotechnology countries in Europe namely Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Biotechnology firms and biotechnology associations in other European countries were invited to participate in the survey but did not respond. The hypotheses were further explained by utilising six case study firms. These companies were recognized by their peer groups and biotechnology industry associations as "success stories" because of their reputation for implementing management practices and strategies as a strategic part of their innovation performance programs. A major finding was that the constructs of the model provided a valid and reliable model for measuring and predicting the relationship between management strategies and practices and innovation intensity. For example, dimensions such as management support, project management and commercial orientation had a significant and positive effect on innovation intensity. The second major finding was that Organisational Climate had a positive but insignificant effect on innovation intensity. However, removal of the organisational climate construct from the model weakened its predictive power in relation to innovation intensity. This finding, from the quantitative analysis, was qualified by the case study research thus highlighting the benefit of using multiple methodologies. The most significant finding, and contribution to the theory, was the identification of management practices which had a positive and significant effect on the variables comprising innovation intensity. This finding was also qualified by case study research. The study concluded that a long-term strategic approach to new product development (radical innovation) is critical to innovation performance in biotechnology firms. Continuous improvement (incremental innovation) is also important for companies to improve their existing products and organisational capacity to meet customer needs. The constructs of the model such as Management Support, Organisational Climate, Project Management, Commercial Orientation and Innovation Intensity complement each other as part of a broader strategic approach to innovation management and performance. The limitations of the study and the implications of the research findings for managers and policy makers are reviewed along with directions for future research into innovation management in biotechnology firms.
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ItemIntellectual armaments in the war of ideas: the role and influence of independent think tanks on Australian public policy making( 2005)Introduction: Observers of politics in the USA and UK could well call the last 25 years 'the era of the think tank', such has been the rise to influence - and in some cases power - of these 'independent' policy research organisations. If politics is a war of ideas, think tanks are the politicians' ammunition suppliers. In the USA, there are now about 1,600 different think tanks at local, state and federal levels where in 1950, there were fewer than 25 (Abelson 2004, p. 216, 223-4). Conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute CAEI) and the Heritage Foundation have, since the 1970s, risen steadily to influence and power. -nle trend began when "the best and brightest of the outgoing Ford administration, including the former President himself, joined AEI and began pumping out hundreds of studies and essays" (Ford 1992, p. 29). It continued into the 1980s when the new President Ronald Reagan hired the authors of Mandate for Leadership - a 20 volume, 3000 page manifesto published by the Heritage Foundation - and adopted a vast number of its policy prescriptions, forming the basis of what became known as 'Reaganomics' (Miller 20(5)…..
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ItemThe internationalisation of Australian firms: how networks help bridge the psychic distance between a firm and a market( 2008)This research explores the internationalisation of Australian firms in Latin America. Latin America attracts seven per cent of worldwide inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks but accounts for less than one per cent of Australian FDI stocks abroad. This discrepancy led me to ask why and how some Australian firms have entered the region when most of those that have gone abroad went elsewhere. Drawing on constructs from the Uppsala model and the network perspective of internationalisation I created an integrated research framework that encompassed both the internal and the external drivers of internationalisation. I used a multiple case study research design based on in-depth interviews with ten firms to explore the mechanisms by which Australian firms overcome their perceived psychic distance to Latin America. I conducted interviews with key decision makers at both headquarters and subsidiaries in Australia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. My findings demonstrate that firms simultaneously draw on internal and external resources to facilitate their internationalisation. By leveraging their networks firms are able to succeed in psychically distant markets despite an initial lack of experiential knowledge. My findings reveal that firms obtain market-specific knowledge vital for internationalisation via their networks. Internationalisation knowledge on the other hand is mainly acquired through first-hand, in-country experience. In this research I systematically document the types of institutional, business and social networks that impact internationalisation and categorise the numerous roles they fulfil. In addition to providing market-specific knowledge, network connections ‘unlock doors’, provide reassurance and comfort, provide credibility and help find employees, agents and local partners. Using networks to facilitate internationalisation accelerates the process in comparison to the traditional ‘trial and error’ method associated with in-country experiential learning. The integrated framework I develop provides a more holistic understanding of how firms internationalise than previous models. My research has implications beyond the Australia-Latin America context as an example of the increasing phenomenon of FDI from and to non-traditional markets.