October 2011 Download this article as a PDF

It is my great pleasure to introduce the Technology Innovation Management Review.

The TIM Review is the new name for the Open Source Business Resource (OSBR), which we have been publishing on a monthly basis since 2007 from the Technology Innovation Management program at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. In the final issue of the OSBR, I described how the journal began with an emphasis on the business of open source, but has evolved over the years to focus on the theories, strategies, and tools that help early-stage technology companies succeed (McPhee, 2011). While open source business will very much remain a topic of interest, it will be joined by a focus on innovation management, technology entrepreneurship, and economic development.

The new publication formalizes a change in scope, but also carries on the tradition of providing insightful content aimed at top teams that launch and grow technology companies. The TIM Review will bring together diverse viewpoints from academics, entrepreneurs, companies of all sizes, the public sector, the third sector, and others to share insights and practical ideas that readers can apply to their own organizations.

Along with the new name and scope, we have developed a new website: http://timreview.ca, which includes the archive of OSBR articles, now accessible by issue or by topic. The evolution of the website is ongoing, but we believe it already provides increased opportunities for discovery and discussion.

We would like to thank the faculty and students of the TIM program and other staff at Carleton University for their help in the transition to the TIM Review. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Nathaniel Hudson for leading the website development work.

We are also grateful for the valuable feedback from readers and authors, our Advisory Board, and our new Review Board, who have collectively shaped the new publication and will continue to help evolve it. Please keep telling us what is working, what is not, and how we can make the TIM Review better.

In this first issue of the TIM Review, we feature a collection of five articles from authors within our ecosystem:

Tony Bailetti, Director of the Technology Innovation Management program, describes the importance of student entrepreneurship and proposes a model by which universities can increase the number of student spinoff companies. He recommends that senior university administrators use a results-based management approach, guided by a set of principles anchored around the proposed model of student entrepreneurship.

Michael Weiss, Associate Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University, retraces the evolution of software product development to illustrate a shift from a single-company, product-line development approach to software ecosystems and collectives. With particular emphasis on a case study of the Eclipse open source software ecosystem, he describes his recent research to develop a model that will help potential members decide whether or not to join a collective. The model links factors that affect the economics of software development collectives (level of contribution, number of members, and diversity of use) to economic outcomes (time, quality, and cost).

Mika Westerlund from the University of California Berkeley and Aalto University and Seppo Leminen from Laurea University and Aalto University, explore the challenges companies face when moving from a traditional, closed development approach to one where they co-create with customers. They identify and describe four distinct steps of open innovation based on their recent research with living labs. Finally, they discuss the differences between conventional, project-based development and the open innovation model, with an emphasis on the managerial challenges that come with a shift to greater openness and customer-led co-creation.

Peter Carbone reflects upon his experiences with acquisition integration as an executive at Nortel and extracts principles that can help both large companies and startups negotiate an appropriate integration approach following acquisition. With insights and lessons learned from six Nortel acquisitions, he describes four models of integration and the factors that can contribute to their success.

Ian Gilbert and Stephen Davies from Third Core Venture Expansion Partners outline a sales execution strategy guide for technology startups. They argue that much of the assistance offered to startups is focused on solution development and product-level commercialization, with less attention given to the execution of sales. In their article, they describe the reasons why sales execution strategies are commonly overlooked and offer practical tips for startups to put such a strategy in place – and execute it – in order to maximize revenue.

In November, we offer another collection of articles on topics that reflect the new scope of the publication. Following this, we will return to the tradition of publishing issues around specific editorial themes. We encourage you to suggest themes you would like to see covered in future issues.

We hope you enjoy the first issue of the TIM Review and will share your comments on articles online. Please also feel free to contact us directly with feedback or article submissions.

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Keywords: editorial, journal, TIM Review

Comments

sghinescu's picture

I am glad to see the people who I was familiar with from the osbr.ca site will continue to write for TIM review with the latest from an exciting entrepreneurial field.
I salute the switching to Drupal, a much more powerful web CMS which will offer new online communication capabilities. The colors on the page are not very great, maybe a bit of theming required?
Good luck with the new site and I'm looking forward to great content!