Firms' technological search behaviors
Abstract
This dissertation investigates the determinants of the magnitude of firm search investments, boundaries of search, and search decisions under uncertainty. It consists of three studies, each of which examines a different dimension of organizational search based on comparative theoretical perspectives. The first study investigates the determinants of technological search intensity based on a comparison and reconciliation of the arguments from the threat-rigidity hypothesis, attention-based theory, and the behavioral theory of the firm. Based on the results from an examination of the R&D expenditures of U.S. manufacturing firms from 1980 to 2001, this study shows how past performance, aspirations, and slack resources affect the search investment decisions of firms. The findings suggest that search increases with the distance of firms' past performance either below or above aspirations. Search is limited when firms perform in the vicinity of aspirations. The second study investigates the determinants of technological search boundaries in manufacturing firms. It develops testable hypotheses based on the behavioral theory of the firm, threat-rigidity hypothesis, agency theory, and competency trap argument. By examining the patent citation data of U.S. manufacturing firms from 1975 to 1999, this research shows how past performance relative to aspirations, proximity to bankruptcy, and slack resources determine firms' search across organizational boundaries and technological domains. The third study investigates the determinants of firms' technological search intensity under uncertainties. By examining the R&D expenditures of U.S. manufacturing firms from 1980 to 2001, this study explores how past performance, aspirations, and uncertainty affect the search investments of funs. Our findings show both performance feedback and performance forecasts are important determinants of firm search. Uncertainty leads firms to rely more on performance feedback (backward-looking search) than on future prospects (forward-looking search) in making search decisions. This dissertation reviews various theories on organizational search behavior in the literature and develops testable frameworks for these arguments. It is the first empirical study using organizational data to systematically examine Cyert and March's (1963) problemistic versus slack search, Rosenkopf and Nerkar's (2001) local versus boundary-spanning search, and Gavetti and Levinthal's (2000) backward-looking versus forward-looking search models.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Miller, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Management
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