Business development in Global Markets. The case of biotechnology

High levels of scientific and technological complexity along with extremely uncertain and long R&D processes make firms growth in the biotechnology industry a particularly tough goal to pursue. In such a context, globalization requires companies to operate according to a competitive market-oriented management (market-driven management), which leads to the development of an “outside-in” thinking process. It follows that organizations able to timely monitor information derived from the outside, have a greater aptness to perform more effectively than competitors in the identification and management of new business opportunities. To such a purpose, firms in the biotechnology industry perform particular “Business Development” activities, that have, up to now, little presence in the academic literature. The aim of this thesis is to further explore Business Development, in order to provide a solid definition of the phenomenon, uncover its underlying theoretical dimensions and identify the microfoundations of a Business Development Capability. Building on the few previous contribution to the topic, integrated with recent evolutions on marketing and entrepreneurship literature, I sustain that Business Development is a phenomenon which resides at the interface of the two discipline. Using the empirical support of ten case study companies operating in the biotechnology industry, the thesis identifies seven theoretical dimensions that drive Business Development activities. In addition, starting from an in-depth analysis of difference theories on capability development, I adopt a dynamic capabilities perspective and develop a theoretical framework that shows how a number of managerial and organizational factors may affect a superior performance in Business Development.