MORSe (Management and Organization Research Seminars): "Cool Again! Spin-Outs and the Rejuvenation of Old-Timers"
Institute of Management and Organisation
Start date: 17 November 2011
End date: 18 November 2011
Thursday, 17th of November 2011, 12:30
Room 351
Abstract
Building on the intuition that socialization leads to exploitation, this article focuses on corporate spin-outs as a strategy for desocialization that can rejuvenate the inventive efforts of old-timers—that is, inventors with a long tenure with the same company. Inventors that join in a spin-out may increase the extent of exploration in their inventive activities. Moreover, because these old-timers are more socialized than newcomers, they should benefit more than newcomers from the spin-out experience. Using data from a matched sample of inventors employed by Xerox Corporation and its spin-outs, this study offers evidence consistent with these predictions.
