How Does Top Management Team Create Core Technologies in a Start-up?
Previous studies suggested that it was more effective to start a venture by forming a team with members having different expertise and nature rather than doing it by one entrepreneur. This paper aims to clarify the contribution of a top management team in the creation of core technologies that require advanced scientific expertise, which will affect bio-venture’s growth and performance. With regard to the relationship between a top management team and organization’s achievements, many researches have been executed in upper echelons perspective. However, some issues have been pointed out that the concrete processes including division of roles and interaction are unknown. This case study deals with the generation of innovative nucleic acid medicine platform “Bonac Nucleic Acid” executed by the cutting-edge pharmaceutical research firm, Bonac Corporation. The generation process was analyzed in detail by in-depth interviews. This paper concludes that in addition to the contribution of an outstanding scientist, a manager in business role played an important role in creating core technologies by interactions with the scientist.