Jason Li-Ying

This paper explores whether university–industry collaboration can facilitate university technology license with the moderating effects of external and internal environments. Here, the university technology license is measured by the license of university non-collaborative-patent. We set up panel data during 2010–2016 of 118 top universities in China and adopted negative binomial regression for empirical analysis. Results show that university–industry collaboration is positively related to non-collaborative-patent license and market for technology has no moderating effect while the R&D strength can moderate the relationship. Specifically, funding has a positive effect on non-collaborative-patent license while research full-time equivalent of R&D personnel negatively moderates the relationship between collaboration and non-collaborative-patent license. This paper creates a new direction to study influencing factors of university technology license from the perspective of collaborators and environment and verified the driving effect of university–industry collaboration on university technology license. Moreover, it sheds light on theoretical streams of university technology license in developing countries.

Overview: Business model innovation (BMI) is especially challenging in rapidly changing environments. When developing a new business model over time, entrepreneurs and managers often find it hard to figure out where to start and what to do next. The success of BMI largely lies in when companies attempt to make changes, as well as what components of the business model to change and in what order. This process can be sometimes biased. As a result, what managers prioritize in their minds and what they act on can be different. Managers must be aware of such differences and consciously manage the development journey over time. This article discusses the BMI process in detail, examining how prioritizing (selective attention) and timing (action attention) can be (un)synchronized, why this happens, and how to maximize learning and avoid learning traps. Based on several longitudinal and in-depth case studies, this work highlights the importance of prioritization and timing with respect to BMI success.

Business model innovation can be a key driver to realizing the transformation needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the same time, the SDGs can support organizations as they identify and tackle opportunities for business model innovation. This study uses a constructive research method to build a managerial approach that supports business model innovation for the SDGs. The approach helps organizations assess their contribution to the SDGs, explore and prioritize SDG‐oriented business opportunities and risks, and formulate business model innovation strategies accordingly. The proposed approach was developed through participatory action research conducted in collaboration with two companies operating in the medical and educational sectors and then applied to Ørsted, a multinational power company, which is strongly committed to a sustainability‐driven business transformation and aspires to contribute strongly to SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (Climate action). The study furthers the academic and practical debate on business model innovation for sustainability by providing new academic and practical knowledge on how organizations can use the SDGs to stimulate business model innovations.

Overview: Digital transformation presents a major challenge for many incumbents. Digital laggards are falling further behind frontrunners and digital-born startups. To make up some ground, more firms resort to experimentation with and implementation of digital innovation units (DIU). While knowledge about types of DIUs and their challenges is helpful, little is known about how to manage DIUs along the DIU’s development life cycle and the parent organization’s digital transformation process. Based on an exploratory study of six DIUs, we identify two dynamic and embedded loops that DIU leaders need to actively manage: DIU leaders ensure a smooth transition between the lifecycle stages in the first loop, while avoiding critical growth traps in the second loop. We provide practical guidance for how to manage DIUs for sustainable impact.

Group cohesion is critical in the workplace, especially when individual and contextual constraints coexist but high performance is essential. We assess the source of variation in group members' perceptions of cohesion. Using an interactional psychology perspective, and within the context of intensive care, this study examines the interactive effects of nurses' self‐concept and the objective social context within which they are embedded. Individual‐ and unit‐level factors are investigated because they jointly shape the degree to which nurses perceive their intensive care units as cohesive. A multisource, multilevel study of approximately 140 nurses employed in 20 units across Denmark demonstrates the role self‐concept plays in easing and enhancing the constraints workplaces impose on cohesion. Implications for research on emergent states and interactional psychology are discussed.

In times of unprecedented change related to the ongoing digital transformation of business and society at large, a pressing contemporary management challenge is recognizing and translating these changes into digital business model innovation (DBMI). Academia potentially has much to offer in aiding this managerial challenge, yet research in the field remains vague with regard to what DBMI is. We detect conceptual ambiguity among scholars as a bottleneck that prevents advancements in the field of DBMI research. In this article, we aim to trace the foundation of key attributes of the DBMI concept and propose a novel definition. Our insights are based on a targeted, state-of-the-art literature review of 57 publications. We conclude with an exploration of avenues for future research, which we closely link to the broader fields of strategic management, information systems, and organization studies, thereby exposing the issue of DBMI to a wider audience. Overall, we aim to make a significant step toward construct clarity in DBMI research.

Prior studies have extensively discussed firms’ propensity of licensing under different levels of competition. This study clarifies the differences between potential technology competition (PTC) and actual licensing competition (ALC). We investigate the relationship between these two types of competition in the context of Chinese patent licensing landscape, using patent licensing data during 2002–2013. We find that the positive effect of PTC on ALC is contingent upon the nature of licensed patent, such as generality, complexity, and newness. Our findings help scholars and managers interested in licensing to understand and monitor the likelihood of licensing competition. Policy implications are presented at the end of this study.

Overview: Big Science Organizations (BSOs) increasingly influence innovation and business creation, yet limited knowledge exists currently about how they innovate collaboratively with industrial suppliers. We present five innovation modes in the BSO-supplier relationship; identify pre- and post-contracting challenges for BSOs and suppliers; identify the primary solvers; and highlight the best practices of BSOs, suppliers, and industrial liaison offices to overcome these challenges. Managers at BSOs and industrial suppliers can use the lessons learned to understand fully the fundamentals of collaborative innovation between BSOs and suppliers.