Who Benefits from Training and R&D,the Firm or the Workers?

The present paper offers a novel study of the effects of intangible assets on wages and productivity. Training, R&D and physical capital are all taken into account, and their joint effects are examined. We use panels of firms in order to control for unobserved fixed effects and the potential endogeneity of training and R&D, using data for France and Sweden. The estimation of productivity and wage equations allows us to show how the benefits of investment in physical capital, training and R&D are shared between the firm and the workers. We found that firms indeed obtain the largest part of the returns to their investments, but their share is relatively lower for intangible assets (R&D and training) than for physical capital.     

New R&D management paradigms: rethinking research and technology organizations strategies in regions

The R&D management paradigms of research and technology organizations (RTOs) have been discussed in the past. Academics have analysed their strategic challenges in view of the new demands posed by new competitive environments for their SME clients. New innovation models proposed recently have captured the attention of policy makers. The objectives of this paper are to analyse these models in the case of a particular model of RTO: the R&D units in the Basque Country in Spain, launched with the aim of improving R&D and technology transfer efficiency. This paper is based on an empirical study of a group of specialized RTOs (R&D units) and its objective is to analyse a new paradigm of RTO and propose a model to identify the critical elements that influence performance and strategic alignment between R&D performers (RTOs) and their partners (in most cases SMEs).     

The effects of funding source and management ownership on the productivity of R&D

This study investigates the influence of the source of R&D funds and management ownership on R&D productivity. The lagged effect of the source of R&D funds on R&D output is investigated for a sample of US manufacturing firms in five industries over the 1996–99 period. Estimates based on 779 firm-years show that R&D productivity increases with the proportion of stock held by managers and directors of firms primarily in the Other Electronics industry. The estimates also show that recipients of government-sponsored R&D funds in the Chemicals industry have lower levels of output (sales) for each dollar committed to R&D. In addition, output for firms in the Chemicals industry worsens as management stockholding increases, implying an agency cost rationale for the observed difference in output. The implication is that firms with high manager-owner content are less productive with government-sponsored R&D than with company-financed R&D. The reported results suggest that potential agency costs should be incorporated in government-sponsored R&D contracts. It also suggests that the source of R&D funds should be disclosed and incorporated into the valuation of intangible assets attributable to research and development.     

Network positioning and R&D activity: a study of Italian groups

Traditionally, R&D studies focus on organisational characteristics and internal context factor effects on a firm's R&D activities. This paper extends previous research by analysing firm–level R&D expenditures in the wider context of inter–organisational networks. Using sample of 2002 manufacturing firms in Italy, it provides evidence that R&D intensity is linked to a firm's positioning within an industrial group's hierarchy. Further tests on the antecedents of R&D expenditures are carried out in relation to the effects of firm characteristics and industry factors. Important findings include a significant and positive association between R&D intensity and the firm's size, performance, intangible assets and industry concentration. These findings suggest that, in addition to firm–level factors and its market environment, network resources and organisation may play an important role in driving the intensity of the firm's R&D expenditures.     

A framework, process and tool for managing technology‐based assets

Technology organisations centre their business on the development of new technology‐based offerings (i.e. products and services). The strategic management of technology‐based assets is therefore crucial for these organisations as an imperative for business success. However, these assets are often intangible and reflect future rather than current value and are therefore difficult to manage when using traditional managerial concepts. This study investigates integrative mechanisms addressing the management of technology‐based assets and offerings in a technology organisation. The approach taken was to study the views and practices regarding the management of technology‐based assets in a number of strategic units of a technology organisation (CSIR, South Africa). The study maintains that the management of technology‐based assets and offerings requires clear strategic management of the process of technological innovation with special emphasis on the management of the intellectual capital (IC) and the intellectual property (IP) of the organisation. The study describes a framework linking the core processes supporting the management of technology‐based assets and offerings with other organisational elements such as leadership, strategy, and culture. Specific key links between the core process of innovation and the strategic management of investment in technology‐based assets using a portfolio approach are discussed.     

Social capital and creativity in R&D project teams

The existing research contributes to our understanding about the value of social capital in a wide range of social science disciplines; however, it does not well address the role of social capital in creativity for research and development (R&D) project teams in a given context. Using a sample of 54 R&D project teams in high-technology firms of Taiwan, we examined the impacts of social capital on creativity of R&D project teams from an intra-team perspective. Results of factor analysis revealed four factors extracted from the concept of social capital, namely social interaction, network ties, mutual trust, and shared goals. Findings suggested that social interaction and network ties had significant and positive impacts on creativity of R&D project teams, but mutual trust and shared goals did not. Managerial implications for managing social capital in R&D project teams are discussed.     

Managing liquidity in research‐intensive firms: signaling and cash flow effects of patents and alliance activities

The effective holding and management of liquid assets is critical to success in research‐intensive industries. The primary output of invention is new knowledge. However, because of its ‘sticky’ characteristics, knowledge may not easily diffuse to external shareholders, leading to knowledge asymmetries between managers/employees and external suppliers of capital. Many valuable R&D projects may thus fail to attract external financing, limiting a firm's ability to invest in R&D. In this study, we examine how the cash flow and signaling properties of a firm's patents and certain aspects of its alliance strategy can attenuate such problems. Specifically, we suggest that a firm's R&D investments positively predict the level of its liquid asset holdings. This is due to the fact that invention‐induced knowledge asymmetries increase the firm's cost of accessing external liquid capital. However, holding cash entails opportunity costs. In this regard, we also find that patent production and certain alliance activities provide important signaling mechanisms, which reduce knowledge asymmetries between the firm and capital markets, and consequently lower the firm's need to hold liquid assets. Empirical tests were conducted using a sample of 108 U.S‐based biotechnology firms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Emerging challenges for R&D executives — an American perspective

In recent years, many companies have witnessed dramatic changes in their business environment. Emergence of global markets and competitors coupled with new competitive strategies based on quality, speed and/or alliances have forced business managers — especially in the United States — to adopt new management strategies, structures and systems. These in turn have caused many R&D executives to progress from their traditional agenda of managing R&D activities in domestic laboratories to a new agenda of coordinating and integrating technology development and exploitation on a world-wide basis. This paper discusses this evolution of R&D management agenda in the United States and its implications. It also reviews the approaches being used and the experiences being gained by the American R&D management community to address the emerging challenges.     

Rent appropriation of knowledge‐based assets and firm performance when institutions are weak: A study of Chinese publicly listed firms

Research summary : A firm's strategic investments in knowledge‐based assets through research and development (R&D) can generate economic rents for the firm, and thus are expected to affect positively a firm's financial performance. However, weak protection of minority shareholders, weak property rights, and ineffective law enforcement can allow those rents to be appropriated disproportionately by a firm's powerful insiders such as large owners and top managers. Recent data on Chinese publicly listed firms during 2007–2012 were used to demonstrate that the expected positive relationship between knowledge assets and performance is weaker in transition economies when a firm's ownership is highly concentrated and its managers have wide discretion. Moreover, rent appropriation by insiders was shown to vary with the levels of institutional development in which a firm operates. Managerial summary : Investing in knowledge‐based intangible assets (e.g., R&D) is an important value‐creation activity for the firm. Such value creation process can be facilitated by large shareholders and powerful managers, who can then take an advantageous position with critical insider information on these valuable intangible assets and therefore enjoy more opportunities to appropriate more value from them, leaving less value for other minority shareholders. The value distribution becomes increasingly skewed against minority shareholders when the institutional protection for them is weak. Indeed, in a large sample of Chinese publicly listed firms, we found that R&D investment becomes less positively associated with firm financial performance with the presence of large shareholders, high managerial equity, or CEO/Chairman duality, especially in Chinese provinces with weak institutional development. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

UK Unionism and Innovative Activity: Some Cautionary Remarks on the Basis of a Simple Cross-country Test

Abstract : This paper offers a preliminary investigation of union impact on investment in intangible capital. We first report evidence on the raw correlation between union membership density and R&D intensity. This suggests that higher union density is associated with increased innovative activity among an important subset of British industry. Attention then shifts to a consideration of whether the 'stylized facts' are indicative of a causal relation or are instead an artefact produced by the concentration of unions in those sectors evincing greater scope for R&D. We offer a simple cross-country test in which German R&D outlays serve as the benchmark or comparator. No support is adduced for the notion that unions cause higher R&D.     

Content validation of a measure of R&D effectiveness

The overall purpose of this paper is to analyse the content validity of a tool for measuring research and development (R&D) effectiveness in industry using an approach known as scale or construct validation.
Since a large number of indicators is needed in order to measure this concept, and it is often difficult to find qualitative measures that would provide more information than quantitative measures or purely numerical magnitudes, we have constructed a scale that enables us to create a multiindicator to measure R&D inputs, processes, outputs and results. This multiindicator also enables us to group together all the relevant data obtained from the R&D management literature, which we then validate by consulting the opinion of experts from two firms that are very active in R&D and we have consulted two more nationally recognized Spanish researchers on R&D.     

Measuring firms’ imitation activity

Although imitation is more abundant and prevalent than innovation in firms’ product and process development activities, it has been understudied in research on innovation and R&D management. For example, a valid and reliable objective firm-level measure of the intensity of imitation activity is lacking in the extant literature. This measure is necessary to understand the antecedents and consequences of firms’ imitation activity, which has implications for R&D management. In this paper, we present novel methods that employ patent infringement litigations data to improve on the validity and reliability of measuring firms’ imitation activity. We validate our proposed measure by presenting a first model and test of R&D as a multiple-output production function with R&D expenditure as the primary input, and innovation and imitation as joint outputs. This is in contrast to current R&D models as a single-output production function of either innovation or imitation. This study uses a sample of 227 public firms from the computer, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical industries in the United States during 1991–2010.     

Assessment of intellectual capital management in Taiwanese IC design companies: using DEA and the Malmquist productivity index

While withstanding a highly competitive environment, an increasing number of firms have recognized that intangible assets rather than tangible ones are vital to achieving competitive advantages. Intellectual capital has replaced physical capital as the primary basis of value creation. Although the importance of intellectual capital in ensuring superior competitive advantages is well accepted, exactly how these two constructs are related has seldom been investigated, particularly for the high-technology industry. Taking a sample of 39 Taiwanese IC design companies, this study adopted data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index to evaluate the impact of intellectual capital on competitive advantage. The analytical results revealed that approximately one third of the companies sampled had excellent efficiency in intellectual capital management, while the others still had considerable room to improve their intellectual capital management. The results of this study provide a valuable reference for future studies in alternative contexts.     

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.     

Assessing collaborative, pre-competitive R&D projects: the case of the UK LINK scheme

The paper addresses the evaluation of outcomes of collaborative, pre-competitive R&D projects. It draws on some empirical analysis carried out on data and information gathered under the UK 'LINK' scheme, a programme supporting R&D collaborative projects and assessing collaboration outcomes. A new indicator of performance, based on the outputs of LINK projects, has been constructed. It provides a relative and quite consistent measure of performance for making comparisons among different LINK projects. However it does not correlate with the more subjective grade applied by LINK's own management. For further improving evaluating mechanisms, more attention should be paid to the benefits that universities and companies as well as governments are drawing from R&D collaborations.     

Complementary assets,start-ups and incentives to innovate

We examine to what extent market conditions facilitating start-up formation affect firms' R&D investment and profits. We consider a model in which R&D efforts of an incumbent firm generate partly tacit technological know-how embodied in a key R&D employee, who might use it to form a start-up. The availability of complementary assets influences whether new firms are created and determine expected profits for start-up's founders. A large availability of complementary assets has the direct effect that the generation of start-ups is fostered. However, as a strategic effect, the incentives of incumbents to invest in R&D may be reduced because of the increased danger of knowledge loss occurring through start-up formation. We characterize the effects of an increase in the availability of complementary assets, showing that counter-intuitively there are cases in which it induces an increase in incumbents' R&D investment.     

Research notes and communications corporate restructuring and strategic change: The effect on diversification strategy and R & D intensity

In the 1980s a number of large corporations restructured their diversified businesses through divestitures. It is hypothesized that restructuring activity focused on firms at intermediate levels of diversification (e.g., related-linked) which have a mixture of related and unrelated business units. Results confirm this hypothesis which explains that such mixed corporate strategies create organizational and control inefficiencies in managing both related and unrelated types of business units. Restructured firms were also found to move towards two types of different internal capital markets (related and unrelated). Most restructuring firms moved toward lower levels of diversification (e.g., related-constrained), although some moved toward higher levels of diversification (e.g., unrelated business). Also, this study finds restructuring firms that changed their corporate strategy by reducing diversified scope increased their R&D intensity. Firms that restructured and increased their diversified scope decreased R&D intensity. This result suggested a partial substitution between diversification and R&D activity.     

External technology acquisition in large multi-technology corporations

Based on different contractual forms and their associated degrees of organizational integration, a typology of strategies for technology acquisition (sourcing) is constructed. Based on a sample of corporations in Europe, Japan and US, it is shown that external acquisition of technology through various strategies increases in importance in general. Product case studies further show that external acquisition of technology is associated with technology diversification into increasingly costly new technologies. As a result corporations become multi-technological ('multech'). At the same time quasi-integrated corporate systems of innovation arise in which in-house R&D is managed together with a mix of strategies for external acquisition of technology, using various contractual forms. This presents new challenges to traditional in-house R&D management. Technology diversification is moreover shown to be associated with growth of sales as well as with growth of R&D expenditures. A high level of external technology acquisition presents risks that ought to lead companies to consider technology based product diversification.     

On the development and application of a self–organizing feature map–based patent map

Recently, the range of R&D management has expanded to include management of technological assets such as technology information, product/process data, and patents. Among others, patent map (PM) has been paid increasing attention by both practitioners and researchers alike in R&D management. However, the limitation of conventional PM has been recognized, as the size of patent database becomes voluminous and the relationship among attributes becomes complex. Thus, more sophisticated data–mining tools are required to make full use of potential information from patent databases. In this paper, we propose an exploratory process of developing a self–organizing feature map (SOFM)–based PM that visualizes the complex relationship among patents and the dynamic pattern of technological advancement. The utility of SOFM, vis–à–vis other tools, is highlighted as the size and complexity of the database increase since it can reduce the amount of data by clustering and visualize the reduced data onto a lower–dimensional display simultaneously. Specifically, three types of PM, technology vacuum map, claim point map, technology portfolio map, are suggested. The proposed maps may be used in monitoring technological change, developing new products, and managing intellectual property.     

无形资产的信息披露与市场检验——基于深圳创业板上市公司数据

本文以2011年5月18日之前成功上市的218家创业板上市公司作为研究对象,对广泛存在且不规则分布于招股说明书和年报中的与无形资产相关的信息进行了较为深入的挖掘和分析。一是对该类上市公司披露的信息进行了基于常规和非常规无形资产的统计分析,并指出无形资产信息披露困境源于相关学科尚未就同一现象形成共识。二是研究了各类无形资产与市净率和企业绩效的关系,发现我国创业板市场已初步具备发现和评价无形资产的功能。三是研究了政府补助、销售费用和研发费用对无形资产的影响。四是就提高创业板上市公司无形资产信息披露质量和促进该类企业实施无形资产优化战略提出了系列建议。