Login

Publications  •  Project Statistics

Glossary  •  Schools  •  Disciplines
People Search: 
   
Title/Abstract Search: 

Dissertation Information for Bill McEvily

NAME:
- Bill McEvily
- (Alias) william Jerome McEvily Jr.

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Management

SCHOOL:
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (USA) (1997)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Bridging the industrial divide: Small firm innovativeness and regional institutions in geographical clusters

Abstract: This dissertation explores sources of variation in the innovativeness of small firms in geographical clusters. Drawing on social networks theories, the study argues that small firm innovativeness is embedded in an interorganizational community of interfirm linkages, institutional arrangements, and strategic interactions among entrepreneurial actors. The central premise of the dissertation is that each firm's idiosyncratic network, or pattern of linkages with other firms and with regional institutions, exposes it to a unique set of information, ideas, and opportunities to innovate. Beyond these network sources of differences, innovativeness is also predicted to vary according to a firm's ability to recognize, assimilate, and exploit the knowledge discovered through its network. The complementary effects of firms' external learning opportunities and internal absorptive capacities are formalized in a series of hypotheses which explain differences in one form of innovative activity, the assimilation of organizational capabilities.

Hypotheses are tested using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The quantitative analysis employs quasi-experimental design techniques and structural equation modeling to tests the predictions. The study uses a stratified random sample of 309 small manufacturers, including firms which have and have not used the support services provided by regional manufacturing extension centers. Data are collected via a mailed questionnaire sent to executives of job shop manufacturers operating in the Metal-Working sector and located in one of several regions in the US Midwest. The qualitative analysis consists of a comparative case study of two small manufacturers which operate in the same Metal Working industry and differ considerably in their innovative capacities.

The project demonstrates that a small firm's network represents a powerful tool for expanding its knowledge base and discovering innovation opportunities. In addition, regional institutions facilitate innovation by linking small firms to disparate segments of a regional network and by serving as a repository of knowledge and best practice information. Yet, in order to exploit these external learning opportunities the requisite internal absorptive capacity to apply new ideas to commercial ends is essential. Thus, small firms in geographical clusters clearly differ with respect to their networks and absorptive capacity, and these differences are a key source of variation in innovativeness.

MPACT Scores for Bill McEvily

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-28 00:56:28

Advisors and Advisees Graph