DRUID23 Professional Development Workshops (PDWs)

9.00-12.00, June 10, 2023

Professional development workshops (PDWs) are focused, user driven sessions offering a way of sharing ideas, knowledge and expertise with peers in the DRUID community and develop new ideas and projects. There is free access to PDWs for all registered delegates to DRUID23. No further registration required. 

PDW1:  The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Global Perspective

Organizers: Zoltan J. Acs (School of Public Policy, George Mason University), Esteban Lafuente (Barcelona Tech)

Speakers: Zoltan J. Acs, Esteban Lafuente, José Mata, Angelo Cavallo

At the economy level entrepreneurship is an ecosystem that sustains economic growth by complex dynamic processes that drive resource allocation and productive entrepreneurship. This narrative is gaining weight among academics and social planners interested in characterizing this ecosystem and delineating the multiple economic processes that different stakeholders activate to shape it. The measurement of entrepreneurial ecosystems is not only about capturing the size and magnitude of a key concept. It is also fundamentally about understanding what shapes relationships within the ecosystem as well as outcomes that come from it. Policy is at the heart of many of these relationships.

This PDW seeks to create an enriching space that brings together cross-disciplinary perspectives in an effort to develop provocative conversations that fertilize the debate about key aspects related to entrepreneurial ecosystems. This PDW seeks to contribute to this debate by bringing together cross-disciplinary perspectives on key aspects related to entrepreneurial ecosystems. The PDW is organized in two parts. First, we will discuss definitional and measurement issues of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The debate in this first part will pivot around the contributions of Zoltan J. Acs which are explicitly presented in the book “The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: A Global Perspective” (by Zoltan J. Acs, Esteban Lafuente and László Szerb). The second part of the PDW will be interactive and invite participants to share their views on novel and promising approaches to study entrepreneurial ecosystems from different angles.

PDW2:  The building blocks of (nearly) everything: new measures derived from molecular structures to study innovation

Organizers: Elisa Giuliani (University of Pisa), Arianna Martinelli (Sant’Anna), Stefan Wagner (ESMT Berlin)

Speakers: Daniel Hain, Stefan Wagner, Gianluca Biggi, Arianna Martinelli, Eugenie Dugoua, Joshua Krieger

Scholars have developed a wide range of indicators to measure innovation-related outcomes and to characterize the underlying inventions in detail. Traditionally, these indicators are based on meta-information, such as bibliographic and legal data, on publicly available documents including scientific publications and patent documents. More recently, researchers started to apply advanced computational methods such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI-based machine learning to derive more refined measures from the full text of documents.

We discuss how methods from computational chemistry can capture crucial information related to the most fundamental building blocks of virtually everything – molecular structures of chemical compounds. For documents that detail the molecular structure of (novel) chemical compounds, studying full texts is less informative than extracting information contained in the molecular structure itself to predict some of their chemical, biological, and pharmacological properties. For instance, predicting the toxicology of chemical compounds can help to assess the sustainability of corporate research trajectories or the effect of regulatory interventions such as the ban of certain substances.

In the first part of the PDW, five presenters will not only discuss available data sources and methods, but also showcase how chemical information can be a cornerstone of studying questions of economic and societal importance. In the second part of the PDW, a moderated panel discussion in which presenters will synthesize the discussion and, most importantly, solicit questions from and engage in discussion with the PDW participants.

PDW3:  To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Academics and Social Media

Organizers: Yotam Sofer (Copenhagen Business School), Valentina Tartari (Stockholm School of Economics, Copenhagen Business School), HC Kongsted (Copenhagen Business School)

Speakers: Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Misha Teplitskiy, Anne ter Wal, Valentina Tartari, HC Kongsted, Paul Hünermund, Yotam Sofer

In recent years, academics have embraced social media platforms, and are using them for multiple purposes. Among these purposes one could list knowledge sharing, learning, keeping up-to-date with the research frontier, networking, career development, self-promotion and increased visibility (Chugh et. al., 2021). Studies have shown that the usage of social media by scientists is not uniform within and between disciplines, and between different platforms (Desrochers et. al., 2018). Additionally, while the scope of the phenomenon is still unclear, one can assume that the disruptions to the traditional channels of scientific communication (e.g. conferences, seminars) posed by the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the incentives to use these relatively new channels.

The new “public square” facilitated by social-media platforms allows scientists to communicate their knowledge to society as a whole. The presence of policymakers, journalists, and scientists in the same virtual space facilitated a new, and powerful, tool for knowledge transfers and societal impact for academics. The promise (and risks) of social media use by academics is also derived from (some of) their design as non-hierarchical platforms, blurring the clear ranks within the scientific community. This could pose far-reaching effects on the rewards system in science as we know it.

In this PDW, we will review the existing knowledge on the usage of social media platforms by academics, discuss the opportunities, challenges of this new tool with first-hand experiences, as well and scholarly work’s insights. In addition, we will identify questions for future research, and present cutting-edge methods for social media data analysis.

PDW4:  Breaking Barriers: The Drivers and Consequences of Collaborations Across Disciplines, Organizations and Stakeholders

Organizers: Marianna Marra (University of Sussex), Abhijit Sengupta (University of Surrey)

Speakers: Isabel Maria Bodas-Freitas, Magda Fontana, Martina Iori, Sorin Krammer, Martin Meyer, Paul Nightingale 

Arriving at workable, efficient and sustainable solutions to complex societal and scientific challenges often require collaborative problem-solving across multiple boundaries such as research disciplines, institutions (universities, public and private research organizations, consultants) and stakeholders (researchers, industry, policy makers). Such collaborations are usually difficult to initiate and maintain, often due to high barriers set as a result of epistemological and ontological differences, differences in the evaluation of what constitutes a relevant output of research and the relevant time frame within which to deliver it, as well as geographic and cultural differences between the stakeholders. Yet, it is increasingly being realised that diversity within research, researchers and stakeholders is not just desirable, but an absolute necessity for tackling a plethora of problems. The PDW aims to highlight the complex interplay between the various factors that underlie this diversity and explore the theoretical dimensions of antecedents and consequences of this diversity. For instance, the discussion will focus on how researchers from multiple disciplines can effectively collaborate, where the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of such collaborations lie, and what its impact could be on micro (researcher), meso (discipline) and macro (organization) levels. The PDW will also explore themes such as interplay between inter-disciplinary and inter-organizational research, that is, how simultaneously reaching out across multiple boundaries can help or hinder impact and stakeholders.

The PDW is organized in three parts: in the first, two invited speakers offer their knowledge of the innovation and collaboration dynamics in the research ecosystems, in the second a panel of scholars will shed light on the most recent trends in collaborations across disciplinary and institutional boundaries in the fields of innovation studies, technology management, business management, economics and strategy. In the third, we will have an interactive discussion involving the speakers, panellists and the audience in the form of thematic round tables, that will act as a springboard for new ideas around these topics, and look to trigger new projects and collaborations.

PDW5:  Innovation Disclosure

Organizers: Ali Mohammadi (Copenhagen Business School) and Markus Simeth (Copenhagen Business School)

Speakers: Rosemarie Ziedonis, Gabrielle Pellegrino, Aldona Kapacinskaite, Alexandra Zaby, Lorenzo Palladini, Stefano Barufaldi, George Chondrakis, Cindy Lopes-Bento, Paul Anckaert

The availability of information on R&D outcomes is crucial for cumulative innovation efforts. One important channel is the patent system, which mandates that patent applicants disclose the technical details of their inventions. Many innovative companies also engage in the voluntary dissemination of R&D outcomes. One the one hand, disclosing R&D results may lead to various benefits for the disclosing firm, such as reduced information asymmetry between firms and financial markets, resulting in lower costs of capital. Greater openness may also imply greater opportunities in markets for technology or for initiating collaborative relationships. At the same time, disclosure is costly since competitors can learn from the disclosed information, increasing imitation and competitive threats. This basic tension is subject to considerable debate and scholarly research in Management, Economics, Finance and Accounting. This PDW aims to contribute to this stream of research by bringing together scholars focusing on different forms of innovation disclosure mechanisms, to consolidate the state-of-the art and to help building an active research community on this important topic.

The PDW is organized into two major parts. The first part will feature the presentation of four work-in-progress projects studying different forms of disclosure and access to information through the different channels of patents, trade secrets, and online search tools (i.e. Google). These presentations will highlight recent empirical findings, and each of them will receive feedback from another scholar with expertise on the topic. The second part includes a keynote speech with broader perspectives on the disclosure theme and aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of research in this area, common measurement and/or methodological issues, and possible future avenues of research.

PDW6:  The Future of Innovation Studies

Organizers: Pedro de Faria (University of Groningen), Andrea Morrison (Utrecht University), Alessandra Perri (LUISS Universit), Vera Rocha (Copenhagen Business School)

Speakers: Marion Dumas, Anne-Laure Fayard, Andrea Morrison, Florian Noseleit, Marion Poetz, Bilgehan Uzunca

The future looks challenging. The ongoing worldwide transformations – spanning climate change, ageing population, digital transformation, and resource depletion – have put our society in check for the next decades. This calls for a reflection about the future of innovation studies. “The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented” (Gabor, 1967).1 In the spirit of this quote, this PDW takes stock of past research on the economics and management of innovation and invites for a reflection about the future of innovation studies. It marks the 30th anniversary of Industry and Innovation and constitutes an opportunity to look both into the past and into the future of innovation studies. In this vein, it intends to give a voice to our community of scholars, collect their perspectives on how “futures can be invented” when it comes to designing a research agenda for innovation studies, and thereby inspire and pave the way for the next 30 years of research on the dynamics of industries and innovation.

The PDW is organized in three components. In the first part, we will take stock of past research in innovation studies and reflect on a few topics that have become established but will need some renewal moving forward, to incorporate the latest insights from the real world, account for enriching interdisciplinary perspectives, and adopt novel and promising methods and research approaches. The second component will include presentations on some emerging themes that are becoming increasingly central in the innovation research agenda, partly due to the recent transformations and global challenges posing new threats to sustainability, economic development and social stability. This component of the PDW aims not only at showcasing relevant examples of the variety of urgent topics that the innovation community will have to tackle in the next future, but also at forging closer links between different parts of such community that, so far, have been disconnected from one another. The third and final component will gather the various speakers in a panel discussion aimed at brainstorming about innovative practices in innovation research and engaging the audience on subjects such as the opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary teams and projects, the role of of mixed-methods studies, new approaches to the review process in academic journals, and alternative ways of producing scientific knowledge (e.g., the role of open science in the future of innovation research).