MORSe (Management and Organization Research Seminars): "Does the apple always fall close to the tree? Evaluating when spin-offs' stay close to their partner"
Istituto di management e organizzazione
Data d'inizio: 30 Ottobre 2008
Data di fine: 31 Ottobre 2008
30th of October
12.30-14.00
room 251
Christopher Tucci (EPFL)
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that spin-offs will locate in close proximity to the firm from which they spawn. As a result of this process, clusters of entrepreneurial activity tend to develop around a few strong parent firms. But do all spin-offs really stay close to home? In this article, we investigate which firms choose to stay near their origin and which tend to leave. We test the predictive power of existing theories of location choice, and we develop a new theory suitable for spin-off firms. We demonstrate that spin-off firms choose heterogeneous technological and market strategies, and we hypothesize that firms with more aggressive strategies have a greater need to maintain relationships that allow access to knowledge and facilitate coordination with markets and input suppliers. We find supporting evidence of our arguments by analyzing the location, technological, and market decisions of intra-industry spin-offs in the disk drive industry.
