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Kenneth W. Koput

Bio: Kenneth W. Koput is an academic researcher from University of Arizona. The author has contributed to research in topics: Venture capital & Organizational learning. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 11 publications receiving 10660 citations.

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Powell et al. as mentioned in this paper developed a network approach to organizational learning and derive firm-level, longitudinal hypotheses that link research and development alliances, experience with managing interfirm relationships, network position, rates of growth, and portfolios of collaborative activities.
Abstract: This research was supported by grants provided to the first author by the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Arizona, and the Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund and by grants to the second author by the College of Business and Public Administration, University of Arizona. We have benefited from productive exchanges with numerous audiences to whom portions of this paper have been presented: a session at the 1994 Academy of Management meetings, the Social Organization workshop at the University of Arizona, the Work, Organizations, and Markets workshop at the Harvard Sociology Department, the 1994 SCOR Winter Conference at Stanford University, and colloquia at the business schools at the University of Alberta, UC-Berkeley, Duke, and Emory, and the JFK School at Harvard. For detailed comments on an earlier draft, we are extremely grateful to Victoria Alexander, Ashish Arora, Maryellen Kelley, Peter Marsden, Charles Kadushin, Dick Nelson, Christine Oliver, Lori Rosenkopf, Michael Sobel, Bill Starbuck, Art Stinchcombe, and anonymous reviewers at ASQ. We thank Dina Okamoto for research assistance and Linda Pike for editorial guidance. Address correspondence to Walter W. Powell, Department of Sociology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. We argue in this paper that when the knowledge base of an industry is both complex and expanding and the sources of expertise are widely dispersed, the locus of innovation will be found in networks of learning, rather than in individual firms. The large-scale reliance on interorganizational collaborations in the biotechnology industry reflects a fundamental and pervasive concern with access to knowledge. We develop a network approach to organizational learning and derive firm-level, longitudinal hypotheses that link research and development alliances, experience with managing interfirm relationships, network position, rates of growth, and portfolios of collaborative activities. We test these hypotheses on a sample of dedicated biotechnology firms in the years 1990-1994. Results from pooled, within-firm, time series analyses support a learning view and have broad implications for future theoretical and empirical research on organizational networks and strategic alliances.*

8,249 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a recursive analysis of network and institutional evolution is offered to account for the decentralized structure of the commercial field of the life sciences, and four alternative logics of attachment are tested to explain the structure and dynamics of interorganizational collaboration in biotechnology using multiple novel methods.
Abstract: A recursive analysis of network and institutional evolution is offered to account for the decentralized structure of the commercial field of the life sciences Four alternative logics of attachment—accumulative advantage, homophily, follow‐the‐trend, and multiconnectivity—are tested to explain the structure and dynamics of interorganizational collaboration in biotechnology Using multiple novel methods, the authors demonstrate how different rules for affiliation shape network evolution Commercialization strategies pursued by early corporate entrants are supplanted by universities, research institutes, venture capital, and small firms As organizations increase their collaborative activities and diversify their ties to others, cohesive subnetworks form, characterized by multiple, independent pathways These structural components, in turn, condition the choices and opportunities available to members of a field, thereby reinforcing an attachment logic based on differential connections to diverse partners

1,873 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the spatial concentration of two essential factors of production in the commercial field of biotechnology: ideas and money, and find that the location of both research-intensive biotech firms and the venture capital firms that fund them is highly clustered in a handful of key US regions.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the spatial concentration of two essential factors of production in the commercial field of biotechnology: ideas and money. The location of both research-intensive biotech firms and the venture capital firms that fund biotech is highly clustered in a handful of key US regions. The commercialization of a new medicine and the financing of a high-risk start-up firm are both activities that have an identifiable timeline, and often involve collaboration with multiple participants. The importance of tacit knowledge, face-to-face contact, and the ability to learn and manage across multiple projects are critical reasons for the continuing importance of geographic propinquity in biotech. Over the period 1988-99, more than half of the US biotech firms received locally-based venture funding. Those firms receiving non-local support were older, larger and had moved research projects further along the commercialization process. Similarly, as venture capital firms grow older and bigger, they invest...

529 citations

01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between position in a network of relationships and organizational performance and found that there are decreasing returns to network experience and diversity, suggesting that there is limits to the learning that occurs through interorganizational networks.
Abstract: We examine the relationship between position in a network of relationships and organizational performance Drawing on ten years of observations (1988-1997) for nearly 400 firms in the human biotechnology industry, we utilize three types of panel regressions to unravel the complex linkages between network structure, patenting, and various firm-level outcome measures Our results highlight the critical role of collaboration in determining the competitive advantage of individual biotech firms and in driving the evolution of the industry We also find that there are decreasing returns to network experience and diversity, suggesting that there are limits to the learning that occurs through interorganizational networks

257 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the development of collaborative network ties and configurations in the commercial biotechnology field is examined, in order to demonstrate how patterns and the logic of interaction and attachment emerge, take root, and shift over time.
Abstract: The development of collaborative network ties and configurations in the commercial biotechnology field is examined, in order to demonstrate how patterns and the logic of interaction and attachment emerge, take root, and shift over time. The ties between biotechnology firms, public research organizations (including public and private universities, nonprofit research institutes, and research hospitals), pharmaceutical companies, and venture capital firms are assessed. Three approaches are taken to analyze and understand network structures: (1) examination of the network to see how random or uniform the process of expansion is; (2) mapping the field's development by drawing network configurations, in order to assess the extent of attachment bias; and (3) assessing alternate mechanisms of attachment by examining network formation and dissolution. The data sample, comprising interorganizational agreements for United States and European firms, was developed from the database BioScan and covered the years 1988-1999. Also utilized were insights drawn from interviews of scientists, managers, and university faculty. The dominant forms of partner organizations were coded according to a 24-cell matrix of types of partner organizations and types of activities. Three types of analysis are conducted: (1) degree distributions, (2) discrete-time network visualizations, and (3) attachment bias. Four attachment mechanisms are hypothesized and tested: (1) accumulative advantage, (2) homophily, (3) follow-the-threat, and (4) multiconnectivity. Results show how different rules for affiliation shape network evolution. It was found that, over the period 1988-1999, collaborative activities shifted from commercialization to finance and research and development. The commercialization activities of early-entry corporations are supplanted by universities, research institutes, venture capital, and small firms. As collaborative activities increase and diversify, subnetworks form. Structural components, choices, and opportunities reinforce an attachment logic based on differential connections to various collaborators. (TNM)

63 citations


Cited by
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TL;DR: Seeks to present a better understanding of dynamic capabilities and the resource-based view of the firm to help managers build using these dynamic capabilities.
Abstract: This paper focuses on dynamic capabilities and, more generally, the resource-based view of the firm. We argue that dynamic capabilities are a set of specific and identifiable processes such as product development, strategic decision making, and alliancing. They are neither vague nor tautological. Although dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic in their details and path dependent in their emergence, they have significant commonalities across firms (popularly termed ‘best practice’). This suggests that they are more homogeneous, fungible, equifinal, and substitutable than is usually assumed. In moderately dynamic markets, dynamic capabilities resemble the traditional conception of routines. They are detailed, analytic, stable processes with predictable outcomes. In contrast, in high-velocity markets, they are simple, highly experiential and fragile processes with unpredictable outcomes. Finally, well-known learning mechanisms guide the evolution of dynamic capabilities. In moderately dynamic markets, the evolutionary emphasis is on variation. In high-velocity markets, it is on selection. At the level of RBV, we conclude that traditional RBV misidentifies the locus of long-term competitive advantage in dynamic markets, overemphasizes the strategic logic of leverage, and reaches a boundary condition in high-velocity markets. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

13,128 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: relation-specific assets, knowledge-sharing routines, complementary resources/capabilities, and effective governance.
Abstract: In this article we offer a view that suggests that a firm's critical resources may span firm boundaries and may be embedded in interfirm resources and routines. We argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: (1) relation-specific assets, (2) knowledge-sharing routines, (3) complementary resources/capabilities, and (4) effective governance. We examine each of these potential sources of rent in detail, identifying key subprocesses, and also discuss the isolating mechanisms that serve to preserve relational rents. Finally, we discuss how the relational view may offer normative prescriptions for firm-level strategies that contradict the prescriptions offered by those with a resource-based view or industry structure view.

11,355 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The major concepts and results recently achieved in the study of the structure and dynamics of complex networks are reviewed, and the relevant applications of these ideas in many different disciplines are summarized, ranging from nonlinear science to biology, from statistical mechanics to medicine and engineering.

9,441 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the relationships among the structural, relational, and cogni cation of a large multinational electronics company were examined using data collected from multiple respondents in all the business units of the company.
Abstract: Using data collected from multiple respondents in all the business units of a large multinational electronics company, we examined the relationships both among the structural, relational, and cogni...

5,621 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper links search strategy to innovative performance, finding that searching widely and deeply is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to performance.
Abstract: A central part of the innovation process concerns the way firms go about organizing search for new ideas that have commercial potential. New models of innovation have suggested that many innovative firms have changed the way they search for new ideas, adopting open search strategies that involve the use of a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve and sustain innovation. Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper links search strategy to innovative performance, finding that searching widely and deeply is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to performance. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

5,167 citations