Segunda etapa: Lima

Absorptive capacity is concerned with a firm’s ability to recognise assimilate and to apply new knowledge productively within the firm (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). Taheri & Geenhuizen (2011) maintains that the absorption of diversified knowledge through global networks improves creative activity and enhances practical adjustment of innovations by utilising complementary knowledge in business relationships. Concerning born-global bio-tech firms it is imperative that their top management use their local and global connections as a source of new scientific knowledge and technical know-how. Freeman et al. (2010) maintain that, the interpersonal relationships (of the born global managers through their earlier networks), inter-firm partnership and co-operating inter- dependence, which lead to trust, “may be viewed as the fastest and most expedient conduit of tacit knowledge” (p.79). Altshuler (2012) suggests that tacit knowledge increases the firms’ absorptive capacity. Discussions with key informants were targeted at understanding the importance of prior-learning and the accumulated science experience of the owners and the top management in terms of facilitating the acquisition of useful information in networks.

3.8 Measurement

The formulated parameters in the form of concepts were designed to measure how small born global bio-tech firms develop their innovative capabilities and these are presented in table 8 on p.132. The table displays collected data concerning the activities of small born global firms that assisted their capability development processes. The data shows what the firms were able to achieve e.g. they were able to develop new drug testing combinations or new clinical products as a result of jointly working with other firms, research institutions, hospitals etc.

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Table 8: Outcomes of the science activities of small born-global firms

Formulated concepts designed to measure the innovative capabilities of small born global biotech firms

Innovative Capabilities Business & Social Networks Competence &

Goodwill trust Inter-organisational Collaborations

Tacit & Explicit

Knowledge Prior learning & Absorptive Capacity S m al l B o rn -g lo b al fi rm s Critical

Pharmaceuticals Strong academic, personal & institutional networks. VC are also part of the network Trust is build based on the reputation of the partner Engages in collaborative projects with other firms in the East Midlands and overseas. Work with Universities & scientists on specific projects.

The firm sponsors biochemistry students to work on projects and to study at University. Data from projects is stored on a database. Students are also bonded Experience is seen as essential in order to understand what knowledge should be acquired Nano-enabled intranasal formulation of teriparatide for the treatment of osteoporosis as a result of result of working with an academic institution

XenoGesis Ltd. Same as BAST

Inc. Trust is built in escalating series but in cases of a partner whose cognitive distance is big that is seen as the basis for trust

The firm work with scientist from their clients to bridge the knowledge gap. Same as Critical

Pharmaceuticals Same as Critical Pharmaceuticals Data interpretation techniques necessary for new drug testing as a result of working with other firm

Haemostatix Ltd Same as Critical Pharmaceuticals & XenoGesis Trust is portrayed as key to knowledge exchange Same as

XenoGesis Most of the board members have experience in product development and commercialisation Board members have vast experience in drug discoveries which helps to understand the needs of the firm Haemostats technology used by surgeons to manage problematic bleeding. Funding was key to the development of the technology

Sygnature

Discovery Same as XenoGesis & Critical Pharmaceuticals Trust is built in escalating series with partners

Same as all the other

participants

Same as Same as above Gold standard’ techniques in pain, metabolic and CNS disorders, inflammatory disease and in vivo pharmacokinetics

BAST Inc. The firm has a

strong network of 24 other firms. The CEO has personal connections with expert scientists & connections developed from his previous employment Same as Critical

Pharmaceuticals Collaborations are seen as the route to new drug discoveries

Same as

XenoGesis Same as with all the other firms New statistical tools in parameter estimation and optimal design e.g. Risk and Utility Assessment through

Mechanistic Modelling

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Bellamy & Perri (2009, p.59) suggest that a case-study strategy “enable researchers to study and measure the interaction between factors, or variables, in producing outcomes of interest”. Indeed, by understanding the influence of elements that include: networks, trust, knowledge sharing, prior learning & absorptive capacity the researcher was able to analyse how the firms generate fluid scientific knowledge and acquire new technology. More importantly, the researcher was also able to understand the degree of importance small born-global bio-tech firms place on each factor and the strategies they adopt to ensure that they enhance their capacity to make crucial innovations.

This provides the reader with a detailed analysis of how the formulated measures perform a key role in the knowledge supply-chain of the firms under investigation. This is consistent with Miles & Huberman (1994) who suggest that doing an aggregated case analysis with a core list of variables identified as having a strong impact cross several cases is a very powerful way to move from very case-specific explanations to findings that bridge to the discovery or re-enforcement of constructs. Maxwell (1984) makes a strong case for analysing data this way arguing that “casual explanation is a legitimate goal of qualitative research, and one for which qualitative methods have some unique advantages”.

The strength of the ties and relationships within networks were used to measure social capital broadly defined as the sum of the actual and potential resources embedded within, available through and derived from the network of relationships possessed by an individual or social unit. Therefore, the types of connections that the CEOs/founders or science directors had developed from previous employment and through networking acted as a channel for novel information inflows (Powell & Grodal, 2005).

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The end result of a process for developing innovative capabilities is the formation of new scientific mathematical combinations or the development of new clinical product. In making this assumption the researcher is aware that the measurement may be limited; the use of SPSS computer software would have generated some quantitative data to indicate the exact strength of the relationship between the dependent factor - scientific knowledge/technical know-how for example with independent elements within the knowledge supply-chain such as business & social networks, competence & goodwill trust etc. However, the questionnaire survey did not generate sufficient data to test the strength of the relationships between these elements.

The structural dimension was measured by the types of actors that were included in a network of a born-global bio-tech firm (e.g. scientists, academia and research institutions) and how they were reached through the network given that some were located overseas (Lindstrand et al., 2011). To measure the relational dimension of social capital the researcher used acceptable measures including: trust, trustworthiness, norms and obligations in a global network (Fukuyama, 1995; Coleman, 1990; Putnam, 1993). The cognitive dimension was measured through resources that provided “shared representations, interpretations, and systems of meaning among parties’’ (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998, p.244).