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Papers by Robert B Mellor

Economic analysis letters, Jan 25, 2024

Entrepreneurial universities: Modelling the link between innovation producers and innovation user... more Entrepreneurial universities: Modelling the link between innovation producers and innovation users shows that team structures in the tech transfer function improves performance.

Economic Analysis Letters, 3(2) 26-33, 2024

To investigate successful technology transfer, the potential path of innovations from the univers... more To investigate successful technology transfer, the potential path of innovations from the university research bench to the knowledge recipient is modelled. Universities exist in highly regulated environments and the initial path of decision-making is a hierarchical model and where decisions flow upward from manager to manager until a small number of candidate innovations for commercialization remain. These are then routed for further processing to the link connecting to the knowledge recipient, the Technology Transfer Office (TTO). In the TTO, a hierarchical decision-making model can be acceptable in terms of outcomes, but ambidextrous cooperative team structures are much superior in cases where staff have good insight and decision-making abilities. This report represents the first Structured Equation Model investigation of the management architecture of a TTO.

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2018

The mutual interdependencies between organizational architectures, decision-making processes and ... more The mutual interdependencies between organizational architectures, decision-making processes and corporate performance were investigated by applying agency-based Monte-Carlo simulations in combinat...

Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, 2011

Introduction PART I: BACKGROUND Introduction to Knowledge Management Knowledge Management and Inn... more Introduction PART I: BACKGROUND Introduction to Knowledge Management Knowledge Management and Innovation Knowlege Management, Entrepreneurship and the Value Chain Information Systems and SMEs PART II: MODELLING THE THEORY Knowledge Valley Theory Managing Formal Knowledge PART III: APPLYING THEORETICAL PRINCIPLES Using Knowledge Valley Theory to Increase Organisational Innovation Factors that Stop Innovation Leadership and Innovation Knowledge and Learning PART IV: BUILDING APPLIED INFORMATION SYSTEMS Recombining Knowledge and Learning Drawing Conclusions PART V: THE PRACTITIONER VIEW Calculating the Benefit Larger Organisations Conclusion References Appendix Index

1997-2003 was a time when Internet knowledge was scarce and popular predictions from this period ... more 1997-2003 was a time when Internet knowledge was scarce and popular predictions from this period were chillingly wrong for SMEs. Those companies where such knowledge was part of their core competenciesand thus may have relied less on popular predictions-succeeded most, but overstepping core competencies, or where the leadership/consensus group kept them rigidly partitioned from the necessary technical knowledge, resulted in potentially serious negative consequences. To avoid this it is suggested that SME management should include a two-way 'innovation pipeline' for companies with around 120 employees or more.

Sustainability, Apr 4, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Entrepreneurship for Everyone: A Student Textbook Entrepreneurship for everyone: A student textbook

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2021

Economic analysis letters, Jan 25, 2024

Economic Analysis Letters, 3(2) 26-33, 2024

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2018

Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, 2011

Sustainability, Apr 4, 2023

Entrepreneurship for Everyone: A Student Textbook Entrepreneurship for everyone: A student textbook

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2021

TAKE 2025, 2025

Traditionally the triple helix model sees universities as knowledge sources, resulting in new com... more Traditionally the triple helix model sees universities as knowledge sources, resulting in new commercial products manufactured by firms with the help of government support. This model has no units on the axes, and it is uncertain which strand of the helix initiates a process. More recent research shows that the triple helix model may need reconstruction. Generally, the sequence and prioritisation of the model's three core functions of the knowledge-based economy, which are economic wealth generation, scientific and technological innovation, and systemic oversight, remain inadequately addressed. This paper discusses these shortfalls.

Traditionally the triple helix model sees universities as knowledge sources, resulting in new com... more Traditionally the triple helix model sees universities as knowledge sources, resulting in new commercial products manufactured by firms with the help of government support. This model has no units on the axes, and it is uncertain which strand of the helix initiates a process. More recent research shows that the triple helix model may need reconstruction. Generally, the sequence and prioritisation of the model's three core functions of the knowledge-based economy, which are economic wealth
generation, scientific and technological innovation, and systemic oversight, remain inadequately addressed. This paper discusses these shortfalls.

Proceedings of the International Conference Theory and Application in the Knowledge Economy (TAKE 2016) in Aveiro, Portugal 2016. ISBN (print) 9789892068060. pp 30-43. , 2016

A computer-generated 3D model is used to illustrate the advantages of in silico techniques in vir... more A computer-generated 3D model is used to illustrate the advantages of in silico techniques in virtual reality. The model is derived from theoretical data available for SMEs in service industries and for example enables a business owner (or consultant) to identify where the particular organization is on this three-dimensional landscape and draw quantitative conclusions about fruitful future directions for the organization, as well as how high the benefits will be and what costs will be due along the journey. Clearly this landscape map is of immense value for academics and practitioners alike, and is available "ready-to-go" in a generic and easily-applicable form. This Masterclass will go further and show participants the use of software tools to construct a contour landscape that is specific for their own client organization. We will create the basic 3-dimensional fold in Maple and discuss the implications for SME growth and development. We will then move to Markov Chain Monte Carlo modelling, which-put simply-is throwing virtual balls down the basic fold to show how the fold can be used and manipulated to model and predict outcomes of "Knowledge Engineering". In particular we will model; adding multi-skilled innovators, adding network input from the external environment, looking at the cost of controlling management by showing how much bad information gatekeeping at departmental manager level actually costs and investigating the value-adding effect of intellectual capital. If time allows, participants will be presented with a small case study and-together with the class leader-will work through a simple solution thus illustrating the ease and applicability of the model in a practical and hands-on fashion.

Proceedings of TAKE 2020: Theory & Applications in the Knowledge Economy, July 1– 3, 2020, Stuttgart, Germany., 2020

Tech Entrepreneurship (Mellor, 2019) is of immense value in regional development and the national... more Tech Entrepreneurship (Mellor, 2019) is of immense value in regional development and the national economy. Tech Entrepreneurship is partly dependent on economically sheltered environments known as Science and Technology Parks (STPs), who actively seek innovators and also encourage innovation amongst the constituent firms, including by networking and knowledge spill-over between the inhabitants, Universities and sources of capital (Porter, 2003). The low success rate (~20%) of STPs as reported by e.g. Wadhwa (2013), Kelly and Firestone (2016) and Pugh et al. (2018), led this group to use the ideas of Stiglitz (e.g. Stiglitz and Greenwald, 2015) to investigate how STP architecture can best cope with a changing and challenging innovation environment, through start-up to early maturity and full maturity. Results from using econometric methods (see e.g. Mellor 2014, Mellor 2018) including SEM Markov Chain Monte-Carlo, etc, show that it is very beneficial to have a central Cluster Initiative (CI) controlling the decision-making process ("star, hierarchy") in the early stages of STP development, where potential gains and losses are relatively modest (Al-kfairy et al 2019a). However in the early maturity stage with commitment to a high-growth trajectory, a high quality of decision-making is required amongst managers and decisions are best taken by the CI with the input of the more knowledgeable on-cluster firms. The situation where CI is supported by good-quality knowledge-sharing decisions from on-cluster firms-an ambidextrous situation-is superior when good innovations abound and the STP has acquired some maturity. However, in environments with a surfeit of poor-fit innovations (Will et al 2019), this becomes a high-risk strategy with high potential losses and indeed in this situation, retaining a hierarchical (CI only) decision process is most helpful, even when the quality of decision-making amongst CI managers is as poor as coin-flipping (Al-kfairy et al, 2020). To summarise, STP development from small is not linear but Y-shaped: A successful strategy involves the start-up STP attracting enough small innovative firms (Al-kfairy 2019b) which-in turn-attract larger firms, whose detailed sector-relevant insight improves CI decision-making. The most valuable ratio includes the CI and only any two of the larger firms, because including more decision-makers

Proceedings of TAKE 2020: Theory & Applications in the Knowledge Economy, July 1– 3, 2020, Stuttgart, Germany., 2020

The distribution of off-cluster firms around Science and Technology Parks (STPs) was determined i... more The distribution of off-cluster firms around Science and Technology Parks (STPs) was determined in 4 cases in the UK. Off-cluster firms sharing the same Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes as on-cluster firms were mashed onto a map of the UK and ArcGIS was used to establish zones around each STP of 1-4, 4-7 and 7-10 km. Around a younger IT-oriented STP, off-cluster IT firms were present in relatively close proximity (1-4km), although they were not in the majority when compared to all those the whole 10 km zone. In an older IT-oriented STP, off-cluster IT firms were present further away (4-7 km) from the STP. In both young and older Biotech-oriented STPs, off-cluster Biotech firms were predominant in the 4-7 km zone. Results may indicate that with time and expansion, and the help of new communications and other technologies, off-cluster firms are able to move away from the STP centre to more attractive locales. Nonetheless off-cluster firms still remain within relatively easy informational and travelling distance of the local STP.

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2017

This paper investigates the mutual interdependencies between innovative behavior, organizational ... more This paper investigates the mutual interdependencies between innovative behavior, organizational structure and corporate performance. We present a multi-method approach (Monte-Carlo-Simulations and regression analyses) for analyzing the impact of different kinds of innovations (incremental, incremental with spillover effects, and radical innovations) in different organizational settings (cooperatives, hierarchies and team structures). Results show that even with innovative actors, cooperatives tend be poor performers on average, while hierarchical firms even with poor managers have a much higher probability of surviving. Furthermore, rigid hierarchies might increase corporate performance if innovations have a significant probability of failure. Considering innovations arising from employees, the results indicate implications for risk and innovation management regarding the relevance of reducing transaction costs and increasing the quality of management. Finally, the results show the risks involved in erecting team structures because teams are superior in spreading innovations within the organization but in a world with risky innovations, teams can significantly reduce corporate performance and in such cases adding more management cannot reverse the loss. We use these findings for discussing how an optimal organizational structure may look like and for presenting an agenda for further research.

7th International Conference on Law, Business, Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibilities (LBMCSR-2017) London (UK) December 4-6, 2017

Regional development and innovation capabilities are topics of prime importance to economists. Pr... more Regional development and innovation capabilities are topics of prime importance to economists. Prime amongst tools to foster and encourage regional innovation is the "business cluster" particularly high-tech clusters which are believed to foster more innovation. However, the factors leading to this elusive effect are ill-defined. In this paper, we applied statistical modelling methodologies on a longitudinal data set derived from a successful business cluster in its mature stage (Mäjardevi Science Park, Sweden). We examined the relationship between cluster's innovation output using patents and licenses income as indicator, and its input using R&D and social expenses as another indicator. The results show that innovation output is strongly connected with both R&D expenditure and with social networking. Perhaps surprising is the correlation between innovation output and the number of firms in the cluster. Thus, managers of high-tech clusters' can set innovation targets based on the number of firms involved and from which they can calculate what healthy levels of R&D and networking expenses should be.

Mellor, R.B. (ed). Management for Scientists, p33-48. Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, UK, 2019

In this chapter we explore what entrepreneurship is and how new companies start and grow, and how... more In this chapter we explore what entrepreneurship is and how new companies start and grow, and how the world (especially the “developed economies”) rely on entrepreneurship to develop better ways of working and new industries. Entrepreneurship is contrasted with traditional economics and compared across various industries.