Dedicated biotechnology firms in the ivory tower: An examination of the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and university collaborations.

摘要

Existing management literature provides rich theories that explain a firm's motivation to ally with a university (Ahuja, 2000). However, few empirical studies have explored entrepreneurship as a potential explanation for a firm's motivation to ally. The purpose of this study is to understand how senior managers' entrepreneurial behaviors influence a biotechnology firm's participation in university collaborations.;I propose that a biotechnology firm's entrepreneurial orientation (EO) may influence its ability to gain access to knowledge by participating in university collaborations. EO consists of the three organizational level behaviors: top manager's risk-taking propensity, the frequency of product innovation, and the tendency of a firm to lead rather than to follow (Covin & Slevin, 1991; Miller, 1983; Wiklund, 1999; Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003). This study examined the direct relationship between EO and university collaborations, investigated moderating hypotheses, and explored the relationships that exist between the individual dimensions of EO and specific forms of university collaborations.;Data were gathered using a multi-method approach that included: (a) exploratory interviews with the directors of university technology-transfer offices, (b) field research at biotechnology firms, (c) pretests with pharmaceutical industry executives, and (d) surveys of top executives at biotechnology firms. Treatment of the data consisted of t tests, regression analysis, ANOVA, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and multinomial logistic regression. The findings fully support the core hypothesis that a biotechnology firm's EO positively influences its participation in university collaborations. The results also offer partial support for the moderating and individual dimensions hypotheses.