A multi-level analysis for examining the diffusion of intrapreneurship strategies for growth and global competetive advantage

本研究的目的是对企业在国内外市场发展壮大并获得竞争优势的创业和创新战略的扩散进行多层次的分析。受S(2003)著名论文的启发，本研究项目的主要命题之一是创业、能力更新和国际化之间的关系是一个重要的和高度热门的关系。关于这一主题的特刊数量不断增加，包括最近在《国际商业研究杂志》(2017)上发表的一期关于动态能力的特刊，进一步支持了这一点。风险创造和新业务和/或产品想法的出现对国际战略的重要性已经体现在不同的概念中，如技术(Cavusgil&Knight，2015)、知识(Dhanaraj等人，2004年)和创新(Andersson等人，2016)。我的研究将特别关注创新作为一个过程和一个结果，研究成功的创新项目所需的各种要素，以及企业和其他各方(大学、公共研究实验室等)之间的创新网络的效果和构成。在当今全球化和不确定的环境中，创新是企业生存的重要因素，无论其规模、年龄和行业如何。因此，我的研究目标是考察各种组织，从地区性运营的中小企业到全球运营的跨国公司。我意识到，我提议的博士研究的范围取决于数据的可得性。因此，我将采用混合的方法，包括对二次数据的统计分析，以及定性的案例研究。事实上，对组织内以创新为目标的活动进行案例研究将是理想的研究方法。然而，意识到获取公司内部数据的困难，我仍然保持灵活性，首先对数据集进行统计分析，以更好地了解公司创新活动的某些关系和结果。总体而言，我相信混合方法将使我能够收集和分析所需的数据，并回答我预期的研究问题。我的研究旨在揭示一些重要的理论启示，特别是在IB战略和创新方面。在充满不确定性的复杂环境中，公司可以通过冒险和创业抱负来产生创业租金(马奥尼和潘迪安，1992)。这比以往任何时候都更适用于当今的商业环境，最大的出租车公司优步(Uber)没有拥有一辆出租车，最大的酒店服务公司Airbnb也没有拥有一家酒店。这两个例子无疑突显了从有形资产的重要性向包括技术知识和品牌塑造在内的无形资产日益重要的转变。这反过来又表明，由于创新初创企业利用技术知识的广泛传播来颠覆各自的行业，而不必为有形资产的初始投资而苦苦挣扎，进入越来越多行业的门槛正在下降。因此，如果老牌组织(无论大小)想要保持其竞争优势，参与创业和创新活动是至关重要的。总体而言，我的研究将澄清创业、创新和国际商业战略之间复杂而耐人寻味的相互作用。

The aim of my research is to conduct a multi-level analysis of the diffusion of entrepreneurial and innovative strategies of companies to grow and gain competitive advantage in domestic and foreign markets. Inspired by Dess, et al.'s (2003) notable paper, one of the main propositions of this research project is that the relationship between entrepreneurship, capabilities renewal and internationalisation is an important one and highly topical. This is further supported by the growing number of special issues on this subject, including a recent Special Issue in the Journal of International Business Studies (2017) on the subject of dynamic capabilities. The importance of venture creation and the emergence of new business and/or product ideas for International Strategy have been captured in different concepts such as technology (Cavusgil & Knight, 2015), knowledge (Dhanaraj, et al., 2004) and innovation (Andersson, et al., 2016). My research will specifically focus on innovation both as a process and an outcome, studying the various required components for successful innovative project, as well as the effects and compositions of innovation networks amongst firms and other parties (universities, public research labs etc). In today's global and uncertain environment, innovation represents an important factor for a firm's survival, which is irrespective of its size, age and industry. Therefore, my research aims to look at a variety of organisations, ranging from regionally-operating SME's to globally-present MNC's. I am aware of the fact that the scope of my proposed PhD study depends on the availability of data. Therefore, I will employ mixed methods, including statistical analysis of secondary data, as well as qualitative case studies. In fact, a case study on the innovation-aimed activities within an organisation would be the ideal research methodology. However, aware of the difficulties in gaining access to internal company data, I remain flexible by starting with a statistical analysis of a data set to better understand certain relationships and outcomes of firm's innovation activities. Overall, I am confident that mixed methods will allow me to gather and analyse the required data, and to answer my intended research questions.My research aims to uncover some important implications for theory, especially in IB strategy and innovation. Companies can generate entrepreneurial rent through risk taking and entrepreneurial ambitions in a complex environment that is full of uncertainty (Mahoney & Pandian, 1992). This applies to today's business landscape more than ever, where the largest taxi company (Uber) does not own a single taxi and the largest hospitality service (AirBnB) does not own a single hotel. These two examples certainly highlight the shift from the importance of tangible assets to the increasing importance of in-tangible ones, including technical knowledge and branding. This in turn illustrates the decreasing barriers of entry to a growing number of industries due to the wide diffusion of technological knowledge utilised by innovative start-ups to disrupt their respective sectors, without having to struggle with the initial investment in tangible assets. Therefore, engaging in entrepreneurial and innovative activities is vital for established organisations (whether small or large), if they want to sustain their competitive advantages. Overall, my research will provide clarity on the complex and intriguing interplay between entrepreneurship, innovation and international business strategy.