High Growth Tech Start-Up:
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Sponsored by The Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)
2007-2008 Seminars
2007-2008 Seminars
Seminar 1
November 29, 2007: Andy Hargadon, UC Davis
Location/Time: SB 117, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm
Abstract:
Traditional understanding of expertise has focused on exceptional performance in narrowly defined and static environments: we know little about what it means to be an expert in a dynamic context. There are currently two conflicting models of expertise within dynamic environments—that experts advance change by extending the boundaries of current knowledge and practice (in the sciences, engineering, and arts), and that experts, embedded in current knowledge and practice, resist those changes that redefine those same boundaries. We develop a model that formally acknowledges these distinct roles, and explicates[JK1] the role of experts in driving innovation in dynamic environments. This model of dynamic expertise is grounded in an analysis of the work of engineers at the structural engineering consultancy Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners on a series of innovative structural glass projects. Over the course of 15 years, this firm pioneered new techniques in the construction industry that enabled the use of glass as a structural material. Our model identifies a number of factors that distinguish dynamic from static expertise: the ability to disregard widespread cultural beliefs and work from principles; the ability to chart adaptive paths through action networks; the ability to transform emergent problems and solutions; and intrinsic motivation and energy. We discuss the implications of this research for understanding and managing the role of experts in technological change. Co-Author: Jennifer K. Whyte, University of Reading, UK. |
Seminar 2
January 24, 2008: Howard Aldrich, Univ. of North Carolina: Small Worlds, Infinite Possibilities? Social Networks and Entrepreneurial Team Formation
Location/Time: SB 223, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm |
Seminar 3
February 21, 2008: Gerard Tellis, USC, Marshall School of Business: Innovation of Firms Across Nations
Location/Time: SB 223, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm |
Seminar 4
March 20, 2008: Mike Tushman, Harvard Business School
Location/Time: SB 223, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm |
Seminar 5
April 24, 2008: Walt Scacchi, UC Irvine
Location/Time: SB 120, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm |
Seminar 6
October 25, 2007: Cristina Gibson, The Merage School at UC Irvine: "When Complex Change is Status Quo: Exploring the Concept of Collaboration External Adjustment in Film Making"
Location/Time: MPAA 120, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm
Abstract:
This paper examines collaboration external adjustment, defined as the collective capability to adapt to challenges in the environment by modifying interaction with external constituents. We first develop the concept and distinguish it from other related, but distinct concepts in the organizational literature. We then propose specific hypotheses regarding the antecedents for external adjustment, drawing upon foundations in the literature on team effectiveness, international strategic management and institutional theory. We argue that the affect of the antecedents is moderated by contextual conditions pertaining to remote collaboration, including geographic dispersion and electronic reliance. Finally, we develop hypotheses regarding the outcomes of external adjustment, highlighting the mechanisms by which it creates consequences for collaborations, and conditions which amplify these effects. We test the proposed relationships in a sample of 109 film making projects using data collected from collaborators who made the films as well as over 4000 members of audiences who viewed them. Our findings have implications for collaborators in dynamic environments facing challenges associated with remote collaboration, which are increasingly common across many industries.
Speaker Biography:
In her work with teams in multinational organizations, Professor Gibson strives to increase performance, longevity and quality of work life for team members from various cultures. She is co-editor with Susan Cohen of the book Virtual Teams That Work: Creating the Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness (2003, Jossey-Bass) and co-author with P. Christopher Earley of the book Multinational Teams: A New Perspective (2002, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Her research has appeared in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, Advances in International Comparative Management, Journal of Managerial Issues, and Group and Organization Management. |
2006-2007 Seminars
- 11/30/06 - David Obstfeld, The Merage School at UC Irvine: Creative projects and combinatorial search: Toward a less-routine theory of organizing
- 01/11/07 - Anne Miner, U of Wisconsin: Organizational Learning and University Start-Ups
- 03/01/07 - Marco Susani, Motorola: Design as Innovation
- 04/12/07 - Linda Cohen, UC Irvine: Competition, innovation and racing for priority at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- 05/31/07 - Alva Taylor, Dartmouth, Tuck Sch Bus: Superman or The Fantastic Four: Knowledge Combination and Experience in Innovative Teams
- 06/07/07- Bhaven Sampat, Columbia, Sch Public Hlth: The Dismal Science, The Crown Jewel, and the Endless Frontier: The Complicated Political Economy of the National Institutes of Health
2006-2007 Seminars
Seminar 1
November 30, 2006: David Obstfeld , The Merage School at UC Irvine
Title: Creative projects and combinatorial search: Toward a less-routine theory of organizing
Abstract:
This paper introduces the concept of creative projects defined as discrete, emergent trajectories of interdependent action that multiple actors initiate and orchestrate to introduce new forms into a social context. Creative projects, along with organizational routines, are incorporated into a proposed framework, which allows for both their conceptual distinction and theoretical integration. The framework locates creative projects and routines along an agency continuum ranging from discrete (non-repetitive) to repetitive interdependent action. Three ethnographic case studies examine how evolving means and ends, combinatorial action, and knowledge articulation influence a trajectory's unfolding. |
Seminar 2
January 11, 2007: Anne Miner, U of Wisconsin
Title: Creative projects and combinatorial search: Toward a less-routine theory of organizing
Abstract:
Miner will sketch an overview of research on organizational learning. She will update her prior work that emphasizes how universities around the world engaged in vicarious learning about programs to promote University start-ups. Miner agues that repeated imitation in pursuit of the same goals can produce increased variance in activities and outcomes under certain conditions, in contrast to predictions from some learning and institutional theory. She suggests that there probably no single 'magic recipe for start-ups' that all universities can follow to promote local well-being. This highlights the importance of direct research on specific processes related to university spin-offs. Miner will share early data from two projects exploring learning issues in this context. She will describe an inductive qualitative study of links between scientists’ values and spin-off creation processes. She will also present very early descriptive data on the tendency of one university’s spin-offs to generate new firms themselves. Miner will invite discussion of theoretical and modeling issues in this work. The colloquium is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s Science and Art of Strategic Innovation with the collaboration of the Center for Organizational Research & the Organization & Management area of The Paul Merage School of Business. |
Seminar 3
March 01, 2007: Marco Susani, Motorola
Title: Design as Innovation |
Seminar 4
April 12, 2007: Linda Cohen, UC Irvine
Title: Competition, innovation and racing for priority at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office |
Seminar 5
May 31, 2007: Alva Taylor, Dartmouth, Tuck Sch Bus
Title: Superman or The Fantastic Four: Knowledge Combination and Experience in Innovative Teams
Abstract:
We examine how knowledge and experience affect both the mean and variance values of innovations from individuals and teams. We apply and extend theory on innovativeness and creativity to propose that holding multiple knowledge domains produces novel combinations that increase the variance of product performance; and that extensive experience produces outputs with high average performance. We analyzed innovations in the comic book industry, finding that innovations with extreme success and failure are affected by similar factors as high-performing innovations. Multi-member teams and teams with experience working together produced innovations with greater variation in value, but individuals were able to combine knowledge diversity more effectively than teams. |
Seminar 6
June 07, 2007: Bhaven Sampat, Columbia, Sch Public Hlth
Title: The Dismal Science, The Crown Jewel, and the Endless Frontier: The Complicated Political Economy of the National Institutes of Health
Abstract:
The NIH is the biggest funder of biomedical research in the world, and the single largest supporter of research in the U.S., dedicated to “science in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.” A central tension permeating the history of the NIH is that the scientific community has tended to emphasize the “fundamental knowledge” aspect of the NIH’s mission, but taxpayers and disease interest groups ultimately are interested in the health benefits from this research. In this paper, I take the taxpayer perspective, i.e. view “fundamental knowledge” useful not for its consumption value, but rather only because of its potential impact on human health. From this perspective, I critically examine the economic rationale for funding NIH research. This rationale rests on two pillars. First, that the health returns from NIH-funded basic research are high; in particular, that NIH funding yields significant health benefits. And second, that these benefits are not appropriable by private sector actors. Together, these compose the well-known “market failure” argument for funding basic research. I begin with an overview of evidence for these arguments in the context of basic biomedical research. Next, I assess the extent to which NIH allocation patterns in practice actually conform to prescriptions from economic theory. Finally, I conclude with ruminations on theory, practice, and suggestions for future research. |
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