Published papers

In this crowdsourced initiative, 57 independent analysts used the same longitudinal dataset to address four major empirical questions in international business. For all four research questions, different analysts obtained substantial estimates in opposite directions, meaning that they could have drawn any conclusion at all had they conducted the project alone. Aggregating across the results obtained by different analysts pointed to an overall answer for two of the four research questions, although for one of the two questions, the evidence was more suggestive than conclusive. That said, the variability in results was not simply random, and could in some cases be meaningfully explained. Choices regarding how to operationalize variables played an important role in determining the empirical results, and expert analysts were more likely to report large positive effects. Rather than exhibiting a bias to confirm their pre-existing beliefs, analysts appeared to rationally update their beliefs considering the evidence. Overall, these findings empirically demonstrate the role of subjective researcher choices in shaping results in international business research yet also show that it is still possible to draw meaningful conclusions in science. We advocate for an open science of international business in which the consequences of subjective analytic choices are rendered as transparent as possible.

Firms must recruit external talent while strategically redeploying incumbent inventors across projects to maximize the value of their inventor resources. This study examines how firms can balance external recruitment and internal redeployment of inventors within the global semiconductor industry. Our findings suggest that inventors with less central positions in a firm's knowledge network are more likely to be redeployed to similar technology areas. External hires, in particular, are more likely to be redeployed compared to incumbents, possibly due to their lower opportunity costs. However, external hires tend to be redeployed to firms' incumbent technology areas rather than new ones, except when firms enter new technology areas by hiring individuals with prior experience in those areas. This approach indicates that firms may prioritize inventor productivity over possible opportunity costs to enhance the success of new technology entry.

This study explores how firms decide in which businesses to further invest and from which businesses to withdraw resources by examining the detailed product portfolios of firms in the global semiconductor industry. Results show that resource redeployment within incumbent businesses is more prevalent than via new entry or complete exit, since the former is more flexible and easily reversible than the latter. This study further finds that, while underutilized resources may drive resource redeployment, resource shortage by a newly entered or expanding incumbent business may also siphon resources away from other incumbent businesses, leading to their exit or temporary retrenchment. Fabless firms with resource that are more fungible, scalable, and decomposable vis-a-vis integrated device manufacturers show a more flexible and gradual pattern of resource redeployment. Managerial summary: In fast-moving environments, firms should quickly redeploy resources to more promising business areas. We find fabless firms with more fungible, scale free, and decomposable resources engage in more active resource redeployment than integrated device manufacturers with specialized fabs and equipment, like Intel or Samsung. Redeployment among the latter requires a well-planned, synchronized approach so as to avoid idle resources. As such, in order to take advantage of dynamic resource redeployment, managers should begin by assessing the characteristics of firm resources along these dimensions. Managers may also consider business model transformation to separate their activities by specializing in areas in which they can best utilize their resources and capabilities, like fabless firms and foundries in the semiconductor industry.

Implementing innovations is important for firms to grow, but appropriating the returns from the innovations is also important. The ability to appropriate the returns from innovations is said to vary between industries, and yet it can also vary between firms in the same industry. This study is interested in inter-firm differences in the appropriability. Some firms in the same industry may enjoy a higher appropriability, but others may suffer from a lower one. Canon, a Japanese corporation, seems to be the former case. Why Canon's appropriability is higher than its competitors is answered via analyses of their inkjet printer business practices. In the analyses, Canon's inkjet printers which were sold mainly in the 1990s come under discussion. The study suggests and uses the idea "profit profile." This is a concept of grouping the product architecture with the profit allocation of the product. Based on a profit profile, product architecture can be used as the framework for analyzing the profit structure of the product. The study shows that Canon used 3 types of architectures and they change them flexibly, according to their competitive environment. Through the concept of "profit profile," it is explainable why Canon's appropriability is higher than its competitors. © 2007 PICMET.

Increasing number of industries are becoming highly linked with science. Many scholars are interested in the meanings of the science for the industry. I analyze the proceedings of the SID (Society for Information Display) and discuss the relationships between them.

In the strategic management field, the ecosystem concept is increasing significance. This paper provides an overview of 90 previous studies on the ecosystem concept published in leading academic journals in strategic management field and clarifies the four major research streams. The first perspective is the industrial ecosystem perspective, which is based on the concept of industrial ecology. The second perspective is the business ecosystem perspective. This perspective is based on the theory of organizational boundaries. In the business ecosystem perspective, some influential scholars emphasize platform management, which represents the third perspective, the platform management perspective. The fourth perspective is the multi-actor network perspective, which contributes to the dynamic behavioral relationship analysis based on social network theory. This perspective expands the range of analysis to include various actors in addition to private companies. As a result of the review, this study presented the integrated map of the previous works. Furthermore, this paper proposed original ecosystem concept, definition, and scheme for designing or re-designing coherent ecosystem. The coherency is the core concept for the evolution and expansion of the ecosystem.

In recent years, a large and growing number of companies have attempted to develop core technologies for their products by conducting joint research with a company in a different industry. However, the mechanisms by which technologies are acquired and assimilated through cross-industry research remains unclear. In response to this ambiguity, we developed a theoretical framework for this mechanism, proposed hypotheses, and empirically examined data from a joint research project conducted by Toyota Motor Corporation and Panasonic Corporation to develop the nickel-hydrogen storage cell. Specifically, we analysed networks of inventors who filed patent applications through the joint research. The results indicate that there are 'boundary mediators' who facilitated the exchange of technologies between the two companies. On the basis of their wide range of technical knowledge, we found there to be two types of boundary mediators.

The ecosystem concept is of increasing significance in the field of the management of technology and innovation. This paper provides an overview of 90 previous studies using the ecosystem concept in this field, all published in leading academic journals, and clarifies their four major research streams. The first stream is the industrial ecology perspective, which is based on the concept of industrial ecosystems. The second is the business ecosystem perspective. This approach is based on the theory of organizational boundaries. Within the business ecosystem perspective, some influential scholars emphasize platform management, which represents the third approach. The fourth approach is the multi-actor network perspective, which contributes dynamic behavioral relationship analyses based on social network theory. This perspective expands the range of analysis to include a variety of actors in addition to private companies. As a result of the review, this study presents an integrated model of the existing literature. Furthermore, this paper proposes original definitions of the ecosystem and the concept of a coherent ecosystem. This coherency is the core concept underlying the explanation of the dynamic evolution or extinction of the ecosystem. Finally, this paper discusses the significance of the ecosystem concept and indicates topics for future research.