Knowledge and Competitive Advantage: The Coevolution of Firms, Technology, and National Institutions

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 5
Series-title......Page 7
Title......Page 9
Copyright......Page 10
Dedication......Page 11
Contents......Page 13
Series Editors’ Preface......Page 15
Author’s Preface......Page 16
Acknowledgments......Page 18
Timeline of Key Events in Development of the Synthetic Dye Industry before 1914......Page 23
chapter 1 Introduction......Page 25
The Puzzle......Page 26
Is This Book for You?......Page 29
Key Ideas in Evolutionary Theory......Page 32
Evolution of Technology......Page 41
Evolution of Institutions......Page 43
A Sketch of Coevolution......Page 45
The Economics and Science of Dye-Making......Page 48
The Road Ahead......Page 51
Intriguing Questions about Industrial Leadership......Page 56
Performance under the Microscope......Page 59
Dye Production and Consumption in 1913, Imports and Exports......Page 61
Relative Shares of Patents around 1877 and 1900......Page 62
Entry, Exit, and Density Patterns......Page 65
Background Information on the Three Countries......Page 69
Economic Development in 1850 and 1913......Page 70
Political Systems and State Machinery......Page 71
Role of the State in Economic Affairs......Page 73
National Research and Training Systems......Page 74
Comparing Britain and Germany......Page 75
Interface between Technical Education and the Dye Industry......Page 80
Government Policies......Page 82
The Case of the United States......Page 83
Supporting Organizations and the State......Page 86
Professional Organizations......Page 87
Trade Organizations......Page 90
British Organizations and Natural Indigo......Page 91
Taking Stock......Page 92
The Academic–Industrial Knowledge Network......Page 93
Reasons for an Academic–Industrial Alliance......Page 94
Anatomy of the Knowledge Network......Page 95
How the Network Was Formed, Maintained, and Expanded......Page 98
Origins......Page 99
Maintenance......Page 101
Functions and Consequences of the Knowledge Network......Page 102
Social Organization of Production at the Shop Floor......Page 104
What about the United States?......Page 107
Intellectual Property Right Regimes......Page 108
Review of Patent Law Developments in the Three Countries......Page 110
Period 1, 1857–1865: Early Synthetic Dyes......Page 113
Period 2, 1866–1885: The Rise of Scientific Theory in Dye Innovation......Page 114
Period 3, 1886–1914: The Age of Corporate R&D Laboratories......Page 115
chapter 3 Three Times Two Case Studies of Individual Firms......Page 118
Purpose of the Matched Comparisons......Page 120
The Cast of Firms......Page 121
The German Firms: Bayer and Jäger......Page 122
The British Firms: Levinstein and Brooke, Simpson & Spiller......Page 125
The American Firms: Schoellkopf and American Aniline Works......Page 127
Organization of the Chapter......Page 129
Product Strategies: Making or Buying Dye Inputs?......Page 130
Organization of Production: Improvise and Improve......Page 132
Marketing: Visit Your Customers and Win Medals......Page 133
Internationalization: Customers Are Everywhere in the World......Page 138
R&D Strategy: Serendipity Is King......Page 139
Patent Strategy: Getting or Avoiding Them......Page 141
Relationship with Competitors: Let Die!......Page 142
Science Unbound (1866–1885)......Page 144
Product Strategies: Go after the Natural Dyes......Page 145
A Digression: The Short “Life” of American Aniline Works and Its Causes......Page 147
Organization of Production: Getting Killed on the Shop Floor by Chemists......Page 149
Marketing: Replacing Commission Agents with Employee Representatives......Page 152
Internationalization: Planting Foreign Factories......Page 153
R&D Strategy: First Steps toward Routine R&D......Page 155
The Beginning of Systematic Patent Strategies......Page 157
See You in Court: Bayer versus BASF in the United States......Page 158
Levinstein versus BASF......Page 159
Relationship with Competitors: Make Them Fail, Then Buy Them Up......Page 161
The Age of Bayer (1886–1914)......Page 162
Product Strategies: Exploiting the Azo Gold Mine......Page 163
Organization of Production: The Advantage of Large Integrated Factories......Page 167
“The Most Beautiful Chemical Plant in the World”......Page 168
A Look at the Plants of Bayer’s Competitors......Page 169
Marketing: The Triumph of the Sales Empire......Page 171
Internationalization of Efforts: Foothold Strategies......Page 173
R&D Strategy: The Industrialization of Innovation......Page 174
The Testing and Application Development Departments......Page 175
Getting Access to the Network of Chemists from Abroad......Page 176
The Patent Strategies: Making the Courtroom the Battlefield......Page 179
The Congo Red Case: Bayer versus AGFA, Then Bayer and AGFA versus Ewer & Pick......Page 180
Patent Strategies of the Other Firms......Page 182
Ivan the Great or Ivan the Terrible?......Page 183
Building Cartels......Page 184
Did Managerial Action Make a Difference?......Page 185
Overview of Collective Strategies......Page 188
Forging a National Science Capability......Page 189
Germany: A Triple Alliance......Page 190
Inside the Bureaucracy: “The System Althoff”......Page 191
Strategy One: Using Collective Organizations to Mobilize Support......Page 192
Strategy Two: Working on the Parliament Directly......Page 193
The Alliance in Action: The Formation of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry......Page 194
When the Alliance Breaks Down......Page 195
Britain: Under the Curse of Having Been the Leader......Page 196
Manchester......Page 197
Technical Education in Leeds, Bradford, and Huddersfield......Page 198
Imperial College, London......Page 199
Coevolutionary Dynamics......Page 200
United States: The Land of Unlimited Practical Opportunities......Page 201
Episode One: The Exception......Page 203
Episode Two: Keeping the Swiss Out......Page 207
Episode One: A Working Clause without Bite......Page 209
Episode Two: A Short-Lived Victory......Page 212
Influencing Tariff Laws......Page 216
chapter 5 Toward an Institutional Theory of Competitive Advantage......Page 218
Theoretical Gaps......Page 219
Evolution of Technology......Page 223
Evolution of the Industry......Page 225
Evolution of National Institutions......Page 227
A Theory of Coevolution......Page 233
Coevolution of Industry and Technology......Page 234
Coevolution of Industry and the University System......Page 235
Formation of Commercial Ties......Page 236
The Explanatory Structure of a Coevolutionary Analysis......Page 237
Enriching the Firm Capabilities Theory......Page 242
Implications for Industrial Organization Studies......Page 245
Level of a National Economy......Page 247
Level of a National Industry......Page 250
Level of an Individual Firm......Page 251
Opportunities for Future Research on Industrial Development......Page 254
Uses of Dyes......Page 263
Performance Dimensions of Dyes......Page 264
The Craft of Dyeing and Printing......Page 265
Dyeing Techniques......Page 266
Printing Techniques......Page 267
The First Synthetic Dyes......Page 268
A Quantitative Overview......Page 271
Synthetic Alizarin......Page 273
Azo Dyes......Page 275
Synthetic Indigo......Page 277
Looking Ahead: More Innovations to Come......Page 281
Overview of Databases......Page 282
Bibliography......Page 293
Index......Page 311