How to learn in R&D partnerships?

In this article a set of determinants of organisational learning and result appropriation are identified and then tested on a sample of Research and Development (R&D) consortia. The literature review and an exploratory case study highlight the main factors which favour learning and the appropriation of knowledge. The case study observes the organisational learning processes at work in three R&D partnerships entered into by a European high technology firm.
Six hypotheses are formulated. They pertain to the link between the firm's learning and exploitation capabilities. The hypotheses relate to (1) trust between partners, (2) R&D integration in the firm, (3) the access to adequate complementary assets, (4) the member's involvement and motivation in the cooperative process, (5) its own experience in R&D, and (6) the number of partners in the consortium. These hypotheses are tested on a sample of 317 R&D consortia in the European EUREKA initiative.
The results show that a firm's internal organisation and the level of trust between partners influence learning and result appropriation. However, the determinants vary according to the kind of outcome (tangible knowledge, new products/processes, improved products/processes, intangible knowledge). With the knowledge that alliances are increasingly becoming a necessity for firms involved in technology, a better understanding of how to benefit from R&D partnerships can only improve firms' competitiveness in the future.     

Performance measurement in R&D: exploring the interplay between measurement objectives, dimensions of performance and contextual factors

Measuring research and development (R&D) performance has become a fundamental concern for R&D managers and executives in the last decades. As a result, the issue has been extensively debated in innovation and R&D management literature. The paper contributes to this growing body of knowledge, adopting a systemic and contextual perspective to look into the problem of measuring R&D performance. In particular, it explores the interplay between measurement objectives, performance dimensions and contextual factors in the design of a performance measurement system (PMS) for R&D activities. The paper relies on a multiple case study analysis that involved 15 Italian technology-intensive firms. The results indicate that firms measure R&D performance with different purposes, i.e. motivate researchers and engineers, monitor the progress of activities, evaluate the profitability of R&D projects, favour coordination and communication and stimulate organisational learning. These objectives are pursued in clusters, and the importance firms attach to each cluster is influenced by the context (type of R&D, industry belonging, size) in which measurement takes place. Furthermore, a firm's choice to measure R&D performance along a particular perspective (i.e. financial, customer, business processes or innovation and learning) is influenced by the classes of objectives (diagnostic, motivational or interactive) that are given higher priority. The implications of these results for R&D managers and scholars are discussed in the paper.     

R&D spending,domestic competition,and export performance of Japanese manufacturing firms

This paper examines three factors influencing the export performances of Japanese manufacturing firms: R&D spending, domestic competitive position, and firm size. Export sales are positively associated with (1) R&D expenditures, (2) size of a firm, and (3) average R&D intensity of an industry. A firm's export ratio is related to the size of the firm, but not to the firm's and the industry's R&D intensities. Follower firms are characterized by higher export ratios than market leaders. The results indicate a relationship between the patterns of domestic competition and the international competitiveness of Japanese firms.     

R&D employment effects of financial slack generated by R&D tax exemption: The importance of firm-level contingencies

This paper focuses on R&D employment effects due to financial slack generated by an R&D tax exemption scheme in Belgium. The tax exemption is granted without firm-level requirements, which facilitates testing firm-level contingencies on the influence of the generated financial slack. We find that R&D employment effects increase with the level of the R&D tax exemption related to financial slack resources and that this positive relation is more outspoken for older firms and for firms with an intermediate share of R&D tax exemptions in the overall mix of R&D policy support. No effects are found for firm size and its R&D intensity. These findings suggest targeting the R&D tax exemption support according to firm characteristics to obtain longer term R&D employment effects. The focus on R&D employment adds to the literature on the evaluation of R&D policies which is largely oriented toward R&D expenditure and innovation outputs.     

The effects of the chief technology officer and firm and industry R&D intensity on organizational performance

Between 1993 and 2013 the number and power of CTOs increased; as indicated in the percentage of firms with CTOs, their increasing presence on boards, their compensation relative to their CEOs, and compensation relative to other highly compensated executives. Firms which pursue an aggressive technology strategy (powerful CTO, high R&D spending) in industries in which technology is a critical contingency have well above normal market adjusted returns while those which pursue that strategy in industries in which technology is not critical have well below normal returns. These results empirically confirm longstanding, untested assumptions in the field of technology management. Moreover, the effect of R&D expenditures on firm performance is contingent on the degree to which technology is a critical contingency in the industry and on the power of the firm's CTO. These findings may explain the mixed results of past studies of the effects of R&D expenditure on firm performance. A model which integrates its own insights with those of earlier work on CTOs, R&D expenditures, firm strategy, and firm power dynamics is presented and supported.     

Commitment to Innovation: The Impact of Top Management Team Characteristics

Many organizational and environmental factors influence a firm's commitment to innovation. Among the organizational factors, the perceptual lens of the top management team and the team's dynamics are posited to have a significant direct impact on the firm's commitment to innovation. This study revisits the classic arguments of Hayes and Abernathy and empirically examines several of their propositions.
The results clearly indicate a positive relationship between the technical orientation of the TMT/CEO and above-average R&D intensity. This effect remains even after controlling for the impact of performance in prior periods and firm diversification. Overall, these results suggest that establishing a high level of commitment to innovation will be promoted or impeded in many organizations because of the predispositions of the CEO and top management team.     

Using IT Effectively in R&D Management23—25 September 1996, IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland

The commercialization of biotechnology requires very serious and intense research capabilities. The pharmaceutical industry has been one of the early exploiters of biotechnology because of the existence of such capabilities. This feature has been observed worldover and the literature is replete with information on how firms have evolved various strategies to meet this requirement. The present paper is an attempt to assess the R&D capabilities in the pharmaceutical companies in India in the context of biotechnology commercialization. A study was made of the R&D capabilities of 33 companies. These companies represent 3 categories of the Indian industry: purely medicinal chemistry based pharmaceuticals; diversified (both medicinal chemistry and biotechnology); dedicated biotechnology companies. Discriminant analysis was performed (i) to understand the distinctiveness of the three groups of companies and (ii) to understand the characteristics of their R&D capabilities. With respect to eight of the ten chosen parameters like R&D intensity, skill intensity, linkages, output of R&D, size, age, R&D manpower as a proportion of total manpower and number of skilled R&D employees, the three groups are observed to be distinct from each other.     

Does R&D intensity promote the adoption of circular supply chain management? Evidence from China

This paper explores the relationship between research and development (R&D) intensity and circular supply chain management (CSCM) adoption of high-tech manufacturing companies in China to deepen our understanding of how to improve CSCM adoption in emerging economies. In particular, we examine the moderating effect of three kinds of institutional pressures (i.e., regulatory pressure from governmental regulations, mimetic pressure from industry competition, and normative pressure from overseas customer demand) from the perspective of institutional theory. Based on the panel data of 310 Chinese listed companies from 2006 to 2019, we find that R&D intensity positively affects firms’ CSCM adoption. We further observe that this positive effect is strengthened when the ratio of state-owned shares or the degree of industry competition is higher. However, overseas operating income does not affect the impact of R&D intensity on CSCM adoption. Our study contributes to the literature on the innovation – circular economy debate, confirming the positive effect of R&D intensity on firms' CSCM adoption, and provides insights into moderating effects on this relationship in an emerging economy context.     

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON INDUSTRY R&D AND MARKET STRUCTURE*

This paper aims to shed some new insights on the long‐debated and both extensively and intensively explored relationship between market concentration and industry R&D intensity. In order to do so, this study develops, from a classic Dorfman‐Steiner [1954] model of firm R&D, a model of industry R&D, where consumer preference over quality and price, R&D technology, and the joint distribution of firm‐specific technological competence and market share jointly determine the level of industry R&D intensity. The joint distribution term, which reflects both the underlying distribution of firms‐specific technological competence and the strength of its link with market share, suggests that the concentration‐R&D relationship differs depending on the strength of the link or simply the appropriability of R&D in terms of market share: A positive relationship is predicted for low‐appropriability industries, where market concentration supplements low R&D appropriability, while a negative or an inverted U‐shaped relationship for high‐appropriability industries. An empirical analysis of data, disaggregated at the five‐digit SIC level, on R&D and market concentration of Korean manufacturing industries provides supportive evidence for the predictions.     

The impact of research and development promotion schemes in the Taiwanese electronic component industry

This paper explores the effect of government research and development (R&D) promotion schemes on R&D expenditures in the electronic component industry. We investigated the impact of three promotion tools: R&D tax credits, exemption from tariffs, and accelerated depreciation. A total of 124 firms was interviewed. A two-limit model was used in the data analysis.
Our empirical analysis indicates the scheme generated a rate of increase in industrial R&D investments of about 16%. Furthermore, on average, the impacts of R&D tax credits, exemption from tariffs, and accelerated depreciation, were about 10%, 4%, and 2%, respectively. In addition, we found that the larger the firm, the weaker the influence of the promotion scheme on R&D expenditures in the industry.     

Determinants of Inward Technology Licensing Intentions: An Empirical Analysis of Australian Engineering Firms

This article empirically examines the factors that affect Australian engineering firms' propensities or intentions to adopt inward technology licensing (ITL) as a new product development method. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima reports results indicating that the major factors that influence the firm's propensity to adopt ITL are previous ITL experience, perceived relative costs and benefits of ITL, awareness of ITL opportunities, and the firm's internal new product development and R&D capabilities. The findings afford managerial insights into the firm's technology acquisition and marketing strategies.     

The Effects of Taxes and Organizational Variables on Research and Development Intensity

Prior research has failed to reach consensus on which variables explain private-sector research and development (R&D) spending. This study extends prior research explaining R&D spending of firms in the US private sector by regressing R&D intensity on a number of tax and organizational variables. COMPUSTAT data from 113 firms in 1994 are used to estimate the effects of the variables on R&D intensity (used interchangeably with R&D activity). Ordinary least square estimates indicate that firms that were eligible for the R&D credit had higher R&D activity than firms that were ineligible. R&D intensity is a decreasing function of both capital intensity and the debt to capital ratio. Neither management stockholding nor diversification strategy meaningfully influenced R&D activity. The reported results have implications regarding US tax policy towards the tax subsidy for R&D. The results also help to clarify prior findings regarding a number of organizational variables on R&D intensity. One implication of these results for US tax policy is that private sector R&D intensity can be meaningfully influenced by the level of tax subsidy.     

Measuring the Economic Rate of Return on Assets

This paper (1) describes a procedure for correctingthe deficiencies associated with the accounting rateof return, and for capitalizing the intangible assetscreated by the firm's R & D expenditures; and (2)demonstrates the superiority of the derived measure ofrate of return in a fixed effects model testing therelative influence of firm and industry effects onreturns. Both of these influences are shown to bemuch stronger than in previous empirical work.     

Unveiling dimensions of organizational culture: an exploratory study in Malaysian R&D organizations

Previous literature indicated that research and development (R&D) activities are influenced, to a large extent, by the culture of the organization. While these studies have identified elements of culture that are conducive to R&D, identifying the existing dimensions of organizational culture in Malaysian R&D organizations has not been empirically explored. The measures for this study were originally developed for the sole purpose of capturing cultural aspects in R&D organizations in the Malaysian context. These measures were developed based on the relevant issues discovered from exploratory case studies and nine categories of cultural values identified from the literature. A sample of employees (n = 198) from 45 R&D organizations took part in this study. Factor analysis was adopted to uncover common underlying dimensions (factors) of the organizational culture construct. The findings suggest that the organizational culture construct in R&D organizations may best be represented through a structure of eight factors. The eight factors are teamwork and knowledge sharing, empowerment and recognition, conformity and impediments to R&D, risk‐taking, customer orientation, autonomy, social networking, and organizational design. Despite some methodological issues that arose from this study, this model has the potential to become a management instrument to measure the underlying culture in R&D organizations. R&D managers can deploy this model to establish the baseline level of research culture in their respective units and thus provide the foundation for management initiatives to drive R&D activities. This model can also be used as benchmarking parameters when an R&D organization intends to evaluate various aspects of their organizational culture in relation to others that are considered to be leaders in the industry.     

The co-production of value in digital,university–industry R&D collaborative projects

In the context of R&D collaborations between universities and industry, this study investigates the co-production process and the contextual elements that shape it. We develop a conceptual framework that builds on the service-dominant logic perspective that value propositions emerge from the interaction between co-producing parties and the integration of resources. Specifically, the framework explicates how individual, organizational, and external factors shape the type of interactions and the platforms used, the availability and use of operand and operant resources, and the organizational and individual outcomes sought in R&D collaborative projects. We investigate the interplay among these factors through group interviews with UK industry practitioners and university researchers in the context of digital research projects. The types of interaction, resources, and outcomes sought that characterize successful R&D collaboration are revealed, and the contextual aspects that enable, facilitate, block, or create barriers to successful R&D collaborations are identified. Finally, we propose five practical principles for the successful development of collaborative R&D projects within the university–industry context.     

The structure and organization of Chinese industrial R&D activities

The paper is an account of the authors visit to the Peoples Republic of China in 1981. It shows how a highly centralised state deals with innovation, in this context innovation being equated with R&D. The first part of the paper deals with the way the responsibility for planning and execution of scientific and technical effort is distributed through the state and industry. The second looks at the manpower and organisational problems resulting from the economic backwardness of the country and past mistakes in trying to overcome it.     

Why did we make that cheese? An empirically based framework for understanding what drives innovation activity

In the more recent product development literature the interplay between R&D skills and competencies and market skills and competencies is seen as a major determinant of successful innovation. The study reported in this article was done in order to cast more light on these two constructs in an industry with low R&D expenditures, but where product development is nevertheless considered to be strategically important. That industry is the food processing industry. The results of a series of case studies indicate that constructs other than R&D and market orientation may be more appropriate for understanding innovation and explaining innovation success in the case material. A new set of constructs focusing on what causes specific innovation activities to occur is proposed and a revised framework is developed.     

企业R＆D商业化能力研究

知识经济的飞速发展凸显出技术创新的重要性，企业R＆D商业化能力作为企业技术创新能力的重要组成部分越来越被人们所重视。本文认为，企业R＆D商业化能力的强弱在很大程度上影响着R＆D投入的收益多少．企业可以从多个层次来改善其R＆D商业化的水平．不同的商业化途径对R＆D的盈利水平亦有着显著影响。企业应该重视其R＆D商业化能力的改善．因为．它为企业在技术创新活动中实现真正意义上的自主提供了必要的资源支持．是企业实现自主创新战略的必然选择。     

Foreign entry and firm R&D: evidence from Chinese manufacturing industries

By making use of firm‐level panel data from 2005 to 2007, this paper empirically examines the relationship between research and development (R&D) behaviour and the presence of foreign firms in China's four major manufacturing industries. The manufacturing industries considered are (1) car manufacturing, (2) household electrical appliances, (3) electronics and (4) communication equipment manufacturing. We find that the presence of foreign firms has resulted in a significant increase in R&D intensity of all four manufacturing industries in China. While the average R&D intensity in communication equipment manufacturing is the highest, the electronics industry, which has the highest level of foreign presence, has experienced a relatively large increase in R&D intensity. This suggests that China's electronics manufacturing sector is responding to rising competition from foreign firms located in China. Foreign presence in China's car manufacturing sector is relatively small, and this industry has experienced a relatively small increase in R&D intensity because of foreign presence.