Contributions published at International Management (Thomas Keil)

Standards have become critical to information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they become complex and pervasive. We propose a process theory framework to explain anticipatory standardizing outcomes post hoc when the standardizing process is viewed as networks of events. Anticipatory standards define future capabilities for ICT ex ante in contrast to ex post standardizing existing practices or capabilities through de facto standardization in the market. The theoretical framework offers the following: a) a lexicon in the form of the ontology and typology of standardizing events; b) a grammar, or a set of combination rules, for standardizing events to build process representations; c) an analysis and appreciation of contexts in which standardizing unfolds; and d) logic yielding theoretical explanations of standardizing outcomes based on the analysis of process representations. We show how the framework can help analyze standardization data as networks of events as well as explain standardizing outcomes. We illustrate the plausibility of the approach by applying it to wireless standardization to explain standardizing outcomes.

Based on an analysis of the most active acquirers in seven industry sectors in the United States in the 1990s, we find that both a high rate of acquisitions and a high variability of the rate are negatively related to performance. An acquirer's size, the scope of its acquisition program, and acquisition experience moderate the relationship by weakening the negative effects. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of acquisition capabilities and program-level acquisition performance, thereby adding to an emerging stream of research that is building an acquisition program perspective.

The high failure rate among new business ventures is usually chalked up to the fundamental uncertainty of the process. In actuality, say McGrath and Keil, flawed ways of assessing and managing ventures may account for the disappointing amount of value they generate. Instead of taking the go/no-go approach, whereby a project either advances toward launch or is killed, decision makers should consider a range of alternatives: recycling the venture by aiming it at a new target market; spinning it off to other owners or a joint venture; spinning it in to an established business unit; or salvaging useful elements such as technologies, capabilities, knowledge, and patents. Firms that excel in value extraction, the "value captors," whose practices and mind-set this article explores have created formal processes to systematically mine successes, failures, and everything in between. They know that a venture should be treated like a scientific experiment, in which learning plays a critical role. They are ready to seize new opportunities if a venture falters on its original course. They foster networks to promote cooperation and collaboration between established business leaders and venture teams and involve people from throughout the company in the venture review process. They don't allow financial criteria to dominate the reviews, and they recognize that the best people to launch a business may not be the ones who developed the idea. If your innovation pipeline is dry, your promising projects are being strangled for lack of a speedy payback, or someone else has made a fabulous business out of a slightly altered idea that you abandoned, consider the value captor's path. INSETS: Ten Telltale Signs of a Flawed Venturing Process;The Value Captor's Process;How Texas Instruments Discovered a Promising Business.

This study examines the antecedents of explorative and exploitative learning of technological knowledge from external corporate ventures. We compare different forms of external corporate venturing, namely corporate venture capital investments, alliances, joint ventures, and acquisitions, as alternative avenues for interorganizational learning. Furthermore, we test the effects of multiple relational characteristics on the type of learning outcomes. Our empirical analysis is based on citations in patents filed by a sample of 110 largest U.S. public information and communications technology companies during the years 1992–2000. We find that corporate venturing mode and technological relatedness have significant effects on the likelihood of explorative learning.

New ventures compete by creating innovative products. Liabilities of newness and inexperience, limited resources, rapid technological obsolescence and constantly changing market conditions often encourage new ventures to license other companies' technologies to complement and augment their internally developed innovations. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we propose that the intensity of new ventures' use of inward licensing reflects the demands of their industries and competitive strategies. The results of an empirical study of 361 US new ventures show that industry characteristics and competitive strategy influence their inward licensing as a means of lowering costs and maintaining strategic flexibility while building their capabilities.

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The article discusses a study that investigates the conditions under which corporate venture capital (CVC) investments promote the exploitive and explorative organizational learning of incumbents. The article argues that a program of CVC investments allows incumbents to learn different things than they would otherwise from studying single CVC transactions. The article hypothesizes that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the volume of the incumbent's CVC investments and exploitative and explorative organizational learning. The article also discusses core business relatedness, the autonomy of the CVC unit, and the absorptive capacity of the incumbent.

How firms build new capabilities to adapt to changing environments is at the core of strategic management. However, research has addressed this question only recently. In this paper, I propose a model that describes how firms develop a capability to create and develop ventures through corporate venture capital, alliances, and acquisitions. The model is based on two longitudinal case studies of large corporations operating in the information and communication technology sector in Europe. At the core of this model are learning processes that enable the firm to build up an external corporate venturing capability, by utilizing learning strategies both within and outside venturing relationships. To build this new capability, firms engage in acquisitive learning. Critical to deepening the capability acquired is adaptation of all knowledge to the firm specific context through experiential learning mechanisms. I also discuss the important role that initial conditions and knowledge management practices play in determining the direction and effectiveness of specific learning processes that lead to an external corporate venturing capability.

Despite the importance of gathering technological knowledge from external sources, many firms are not well-placed to collect information from beyond their own boundaries. Government policies designed to improve access to technological knowledge often encourage firms to develop strong ties with competitors, suppliers or customers. But although strong ties are valuable, especially when tacit knowledge needs to be communicated, firms in individualistic cultures may resist entering into close relationships with other firms. As a result, policies that encourage such firms to form weak ties may be a more effective way of promoting the spread of technological knowledge in individualistic cultures. In this paper, we develop a set of propositions concerning the suitability of strong and weak ties in cultures that are relatively more individualistic or collectivist. Our arguments are illustrated with survey data from Australia and Finland. In the final section, we make some policy recommendations for improving the diffusion of technological knowledge among firms in individualist cultures.

Learning and increased innovation are often mentioned as some of the key benefits from corporate venturing for corporations. However, little research exists that would analyze whether there are systematic differences in learning outcomes across different governance modes. In this paper, we systematically analyze how the governance choice between different external corporate venturing modes (i.e. corporate venture capital investments, alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions) influences the learning outcomes from corporate venturing. Based on learning theory, we develop hypotheses predicting how the characteristics of these governance modes affect learning outcomes in the corporation.

Strategic technology alliances have received increased attention in the management literature. However, considerably less weight has been given to the study of this phenomenon in different environments and particularly in high velocity environments. This paper analyzes six cases of strategic technology partnerships in the mobile telephone industry. We investigate how, in high velocity environments, firms manage technology partnerships as an integrated element of their technology strategy. Based on the case studies, pointers are identified for the management of relationships in rapidly changing environments. Important pointers include the management of multiple time scales, balancing exploration and exploitation, integrating technology partnering into technology strategy, and managing the balance of continuity and change.

Examines how external corporate venturing can enhance organizational renewal, and a practical guide to help management apply it within their own organizations. Keil's succinct, readable study shows how major players in the information and communication technology industries have used corporate venture capital, alliances, acquisitions or spin-offs to achieve remarkable strategic self-renewal. Based on indepth empirical research, Keil clarifies and emphasizes the role that external corporate venturing plays as a mechanism to acquire new knowledge and to advance corporate strategic capabilities. It supports the creation of new business opportunities in other ways too. It creates new entry options, it opens access to other complementary means of renewal, it helps to control critical resources, and it accelerates the growth of organizations generally. For corporate executives, scholars, researchers, and graduate students, Keil's book is a major contribution to our understanding of external corporate venturing, and a highly practical guide to help management use it in the strategic renewal of their own organizations. Keil argues that an ability to do external venturing is an important factor in the successful development and growth of any organization. He conceptualizes the process into two main elements. One is the creation of what he sees as a shared context that bridges the gap between the corporation and the community in which it resides. Bridging supports knowledge transfer and the formation of new cognitive intra-corporate frameworks. The second element is the process of executing relationships efficiently, to make possible the rapid development of venturing opportunities. With case studies and lucid explanations, Keil shows how other corporations create and use a variety of connected learning processes to build their own venturing capabilities as well.

This paper discusses standardization of information and communications technologies. Standardization has become a domain of firm strategizing with information and communication technology standards being increasingly created through semi-open alliances. The paper analyzes the strategic logic of such standardization alliances based on an in-depth case study of the Bluetooth initiative. Similar to other successful standards described in the standardization literature, Bluetooth has been rapidly adopted by a large number of companies. The author argues that at least part of the success is due to the structure and design of the standardization alliance that promoted Bluetooth.