Transcript Innovation networks and alliance management Lecture 7/ Assignment 2 Advice networks and Innovation

Innovation networks and
alliance management
Lecture 7/ Assignment 2
Advice networks and Innovation
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Innovation in Networks: course
structure
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Part I: introduction and theory
Part II: techniques of (social network) data
analysis
Part III: three empirical applications of social
network analyses in innovation science and
alliance management
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[1] alliances between firms (GR)
[2] advice networks and innovation (UM)
[3] interlocked board networks of American firms (CS)
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A Recap: Two Approaches to Network
Analysis
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Complete Networks
 The relations of all actors
are taking into account
 Existing data (archival)
 Case study (f.i. a family or
this class)
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Ego centered network
 Network from the
perspective of the actor
 Extension of traditional
survey instruments
 Random sampling possible
 Standard statistical
analysis possible
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The Assignment:
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We analyze What makes it more likely that an
entrepreneur introduces a new product or service
to the market??
the case: Uganda.
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Uganda:
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31 million inhabitants
substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular
rainfall, and sizable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt
Agriculture most important sector of the economy,
employing over 80% of the work force
Christians made up about 84% of Uganda's population in
2002
young population, with a median age of 15 (!)years
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Uganda:
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During 1990 - 2001, the economy grew because of
 continued investment in the rehabilitation of
infrastructure,
 improved incentives for production and exports,
 reduced inflation,
 and gradually improved domestic security
Growth for 2001 - 2002 was solid despite continued decline
in the price of coffee
in 2004 Uganda's GDP per-capita reached $300, a much
higher level than in the Eighties but still at half of SubSaharan African average income of 600 dollars per year
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The Assignment
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Think of ways in which the ego-centerd network of an
entrepreneur may influence
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the likelihood of product or service innovation
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Derive at least two hypotheses. Make use of ideas of Burt's
(2001, 2004) theory of structural holes and of another social
network theory.
Test those hypotheses using the dataset we provide.
 SPSS data set “entrepreneurs-2008.sav”:
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File contains 724 cases (rows)
information about the entrepreneur, his/her demographic
background, his/her ego-centered network characteristics,
personality, and characteristics of the market.
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The report
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report must resemble a scientific article
 Introduction [10 points]
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Theory [30 points]
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Describe the data, the measurements, and the statistical
methods.
Results [25 points]
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theoretical framework, derive at least two hypotheses
concerning the effect of two ego-centered network
characteristics on the emergence of innovating behavior
Method [15 points]
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products and service innovation by entrepreneurs and why
social networks might play a role in explaining them
Present descriptives/the results of the analysis, by means of
table/picture, and a verbal clarification of the table/picture.
Discussion/Conclusion [20 points]
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What do the results say about your theory? Would it make
sense to run other analysis? How could one improve this
study? How valid/reliable are its results?
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The theory
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Read Burt (2004), can be found on the website
Read earlier articles on social network theories
Optional: look for additional articles/theories
Formulate a (ego-centered) social network theory that
explains why some entrepreneurs are more likely to
innovate than others.
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Be clear
Use sound arguments
Be creative
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Logistics
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You can work in groups of two or three students
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Plagiarizm will be punished
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DEADLINE: December 4, 13:00 (extension)
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WORD-ATTACHMENT (WORD 2003!) EMAILBOX Uwe Matzat
([email protected])
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I am available for questions:
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Pav. Q 1.09./ [email protected]
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The data set
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Information about innovating behavior of 724 entrepreneurs in
Uganda, demographic background, personality, market
characteristics
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INNOVATION
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THE NETWORKS
From time to time, entrepreneurs seek advice on important business matters.
Looking back over the last six months– who are the people with whom you
discussed an important business matter?
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THE NETWORKS
Please think about the relationships between the people you just mentioned. For
each contact, ask if this contact is a STRANGER (S), CLOSE (K) OR
ESPECIALLY CLOSE (EC) to the other persons.
Maybe another way to calculate density makes more sense? (see SPSS job)
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Select the dependent variable: INNOVATION
(summary of IN1-IN4)
Calculate (compute) some network characteristics
Include a limited number of control variables (personality,
demographics, characteristics of the market, etc.)
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The data preparation
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You only have to work with SPSS!
However, you definitely have to transform the given data
set, for example by creating new variables with the
“compute” command within SPSS. So a considerable amount
of work consists of data recoding and data transformation to
compute the appropriate network characteristics that you
think are important.
Have a look at the hints for measuring network
characteristics: “network calculations” at the course website
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Have a look at examples of spss jobs
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Adjust them to your needs!
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The assignment
QUESTIONS?
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