An empirical analysis of the determinants of technology roadmap utilization

For many years now, firms have managed their research and development (R&D) by applying various approaches drawn from the discipline of technology roadmapping (TRM). The underlying rationale of these roadmapping approaches is to align firms' product and technology developments with their business goals. By visually representing firms' technology strategy, roadmaps support intra‐firm communication and facilitate the coordination of strategic decisions and activities within the technology management domain. Most previously published research on TRMs has focused on the design and implementation of roadmapping processes; that is, relatively few empirical or quantitative studies describe the use and evaluation of roadmapping techniques. This paper seeks to address this gap by conducting a survey of 186 different R&D units within stock market‐listed companies in Korea that have implemented TRM. The paper attempts to identify the antecedent factors behind firms' successful use of roadmaps, further identifying correlations between these antecedent factors through an analysis of the R&D units. It also empirically highlights these antecedent factors by empirically analyzing and verifying correlations between roadmap utilization and R&D performance.     

Roadmapping for innovation management: evidence from Pirelli

Despite the growing interest of practitioners and scholars in technology roadmapping (TRM), our knowledge regarding how TRM can be embedded into the overall innovation process of a firm and used to enhance this process is relatively limited. This study aims to fill this gap. We describe an action research project conducted with Pirelli and the innovative approach to TRM this company developed during the 2010s to cope with the increasing complexity and dynamism of the tire industry. We show that TRM is currently fully integrated into the firm’s R&D activities and contributes to increasing the effectiveness of new product development. TRM supports the systematic gathering, sharing, and elaboration of information across the different functions and business units of Pirelli from the basic research to the commercialization of new products.     

How entrepreneurial orientation can leverage innovation project portfolio management

Innovation project portfolio management (IPPM) is a key task in R&D management because this decision‐making process determines which R&D projects should be undertaken and how R&D resources are allocated. Previous research has developed a good understanding of the role of IPPM in R&D strategy implementation and of successful IPPM practices. But the fundamental orientations that drive the strategy formation and implementation process have never been investigated in the context of IPPM, and it is unclear whether successful practices are equally valid for different strategic orientations. This study, therefore, investigates the moderating impact of a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between strategic portfolio management practices and portfolio success. An empirical analysis of 257 firms shows that both innovativeness and risk taking as entrepreneurial orientation’s dimensions positively moderate the relationship between managerial practices and performance. Specifically, we find that firms high in innovativeness profit more from stakeholder engagement compared to firms low in innovativeness. Firms high in risk‐taking profit more from a clearly formulated strategy. With increasing innovativeness and risk‐taking propensity, firms also profit more from business case monitoring and agility in portfolio steering. The results suggest that a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation can leverage the effect of IPPM practices. Vice versa, a lacking entrepreneurial orientation can render these practices ineffective. Strategic orientation and IPPM practices should, therefore, be aligned with each other to enable firms to better implement their strategy and generate competitive advantage.     

Does international research and development increase patent output? An analysis of Japanese pharmaceutical firms

Internationalizing research and development is often advocated as a strategy for fostering the development of technological capabilities. Although firms conduct international R&D to tap into knowledge bases that reside in foreign countries, we argue that in order to benefit from international R&D investments firms must already possess research capabilities in underlying or complementary technologies. We examine the international R&D expansion activities, research capabilities, and patent output of 65 Japanese pharmaceutical firms from 1980 to 1991. We find that firms benefit from international R&D only when they possess existing research capabilities in the underlying technologies. In addition to refining our understanding of when international R&D enhances firm innovation, our results integrate asset‐seeking and asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment. Internationalizing R&D to tap into foreign knowledge bases is consistent with asset‐seeking theories of foreign direct investment, while the contingent nature by which firms benefit from international R&D is consistent with asset‐based theories of foreign direct investment and the notion of absorptive capacity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An SAO‐based text‐mining approach for technology roadmapping using patent information

A technology roadmap (TRM) links technologies with a company's strategic objectives and so supports acquisition of required technologies in advance of needs. It is a powerful tool for strategic planning and technology management. Because technology is changing rapidly and market competition is fierce, the role of a TRM is becoming increasingly important. To support the role of a TRM, many firms and governments that use roadmapping are becoming interested in reducing costs while retaining objectivity during TRM development. One suggestion to achieve these goals is to use the keyword‐based quantitative approach to creating a TRM, but the information provided by the approach is limited because of the characteristics of keyword information. To solve this limitation, this research uses the concept of ‘function’ to support quantitative analysis for developing a TRM. The concept of function can provide information on the uses and purposes of a technology. To represent a function, a subject–action–object structure is commonly used. The suggested approach allows research and development (R&D) managers to extend the views of product and technology during development of a TRM. In addition, by reducing the time required to develop a TRM, the proposed approach supports quick and accurate decision‐making by R&D managers.     

The relationship between team communication,structure, and academic R&D performance: empirical evidence of the national telecommunication program in Taiwan

This research evaluates the frontier National Telecommunication Program (NTP) in Taiwan using the data envelopment analysis approach and analyzes the influence of team communication and structure on R&D performance by establishing a structural equation modeling relationship. The results show that team communication is highly correlated with R&D performance. The high‐scored projects have internal communication patterns with a higher meeting frequency but shorter dialogue duration, a uniform distribution of regular meetings, a scheme for the lower hierarchy to meet with the project leader, a well‐managed channel to access accumulative expertise, and an open forum for communication. They also have external communication patterns with a gatekeeper bridging inward and outward information, a lower frequency of time‐consuming external sourcing, and a higher frequency of external cooperation, referencing, learning, and benchmarking. Though team structure has no significant influence on R&D performance, the high‐scored research group focused more on the structural dimensions of research strategy, laboratory management, and motivation incentives. This research will provide effective principles of project management to team leaders and industrial policy guidelines to program sponsors.     

International knowledge sourcing: evidence from U.S. firms expanding abroad

Recent research demonstrates that firms, motivated by national differences in technical activity, expand abroad to source unique knowledge. Extant research suggests that firms use a knowledge sourcing strategy to ‘catch up’ with competitors and to obtain ‘technical diversity.’ We widen the investigation by suggesting that firms also use knowledge sourcing as a springboard to reduce their next generation R&D costs–that firms would seek out similar R&D activity to combine with their own. Using unique data that encompasses the multitude of countries where U.S. firms invest, we test the importance of these explanations. Measuring knowledge via patent stocks, we find that country‐industries with larger stocks and greater technical similarity to the United States are more attractive. These findings suggest that an important explanation for firms investing abroad is not catching up or technologically diversifying, but is using similar R&D efforts of others to overcome fixed R&D cost hurdles. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Types of R&D Collaborations and Process Innovation: The Benefit of Collaborating Upstream in the Knowledge Chain

This paper explains how research and development (R&D) collaborations impact process innovation; given the differences in innovation mechanisms, prior insights from studies of product innovation do not necessarily apply to process innovation. Extending the knowledge‐based view of the firm, this paper classifies four types of R&D collaborations—with universities, suppliers, competitors, and customers—in terms of two knowledge dimensions: position in the knowledge chain and contextual knowledge distance. Position in the knowledge chain is the position of the R&D collaboration partner in the knowledge chain of the industry—the input–output sequence of activities that result in the transformation of raw materials into products that are used by end customers. Based on this knowledge chain, this paper considers universities and suppliers as upstream R&D collaborators, and competitors and customers as downstream R&D collaborators. Contextual knowledge distance is the difference in industry‐related contexts of operation of the R&D collaboration partners and the firm. Based on this, this paper views R&D collaborators that are suppliers and competitors as having low contextual knowledge distance to the firm, and R&D collaborators that are customers and universities as having high contextual knowledge distance to the firm. Using this classification, this paper proposes a ranking of R&D collaborations in terms of their impact on process innovation: R&D collaborations with suppliers have the highest impact, followed by R&D collaborations with universities, then R&D collaborations with competitors, and finally R&D collaborations with customers. These arguments are tested on a four‐year panel of 781 manufacturing firms. The results of the analyses indicate that R&D collaborations with suppliers and universities appear to have a positive impact on process innovation, R&D collaborations with customers appear to have no impact, and R&D collaborations with competitors appear to have a negative impact. As a consequence, the main driver of the impact of R&D collaborations on process innovation appears to be position in the knowledge chain rather than contextual knowledge distance. These novel ideas and findings contribute to the literature on process innovation. Even though process innovation tends to be internal and tacit to the firm, it can still benefit from external R&D collaborations; this paper is the first to analyze this relationship and provide a theoretical framework for understanding why this would be the case. This study also has important managerial implications. It suggests that managers need to be careful in choosing the partners for their firms' R&D collaborations. Engaging in R&D collaborations with universities and suppliers appears to be helpful for process innovation, whereas conducting R&D collaborations with competitors may potentially harm process innovation.     

The allocation of R&D resource

Abstract
The allocation of R&D resource in a multi-business organisation is often based more on current operating performance than on the relative potential for technological development of the businesses. The approach suggested in this paper attempts to overcome these problems by linking R&D allocation very closely to business strategy. The two key concepts are technology leverage, i.e. the extent to which technology can change the business environment in an industry to yield competitive advantage, and business leverage i.e. the current competitive strength of an individual business within an industry. Where technology leverage is weak, competitive advantage will be mainly dependent on factors other than R&D and it is suggested that levels of R&D effort at or below 1 % of turnover are appropriate. Where technology leverage is strong, R&D can be effective in maintaining strong business leverage by achieving technology mastery or in transforming a weak business position by creating a technological discontinuity. R&D intensities ranging from 3 to 15 or more % of turnover are thought to be appropriate in these cases. This framework can be used for policy debates on R&D allocation, for example whether the R&D allocation is appropriate for the business strategy or whether R&D could spearhead a more expansionist business strategy. The framework has been successfully used in ICI Chemicals and Polymers Limited during the annual R&D budget process.     

Non‐R&D innovation and firms’ new product performance: the joint moderating effect of R&D intensity and network embeddedness

Non‐R&D innovation increasingly plays a critical role in explaining firms’ new product performance. Yet, there has been little research on the consequences and contingent mechanisms of non‐R&D innovation for firms embedded in collaborative network environments. To address this research gap, we investigated a conceptual framework of non‐R&D innovation using data drawn from Chinese manufacturing firms. First, we found that non‐R&D innovation positively affects firms’ new product performance. Second, we discovered that high R&D intensity positively strengthens the impact of firms’ non‐R&D innovation on new product performance. Third, we provided critical analysis of the role of non‐R&D innovation in promoting new product performance, accomplished by enhancing R&D investment while simultaneously improving the degree of network embeddedness. Our findings extend both the non‐R&D innovation literature and open innovation literature while providing managers with several key recommendations.     

Strategies for knowledge use in R&D and their implications for innovative performance

We argue that research on R&D strategy and on the use of external knowledge in R&D in particular should differentiate between distinct uses of external knowledge. We distinguish between uses of external knowledge for replication (using knowledge as is) vs. for compounding (building on acquired knowledge by combining it together with internally developed knowledge). We theorize about the respective innovative performance implications of these two strategies and compare them with a self-reliant strategy of internal R&D. We also elaborate contingencies for each strategy, pertaining to firm capabilities and cooperation. We test our predictions using a large sample survey of Dutch innovators in multiple industries. Our findings indicate that compounding firms perform better than replicating firms when the share of sales that consists of innovations that are new to the market is assessed, but they do not outperform firms with an internal R&D strategy. Furthermore, these differences disappear when the share of sales consisting of less novel innovations is studied. This research demonstrates the importance of distinguishing between R&D strategies that replicate vs. compound external knowledge.     

External Technology and In-House R&D's Facilitative Role

A number affirms use external sourcing of technology to create technological change in their organizations. In this article, Falguni Sen and Albert Rubenstein develop a rationale to support the concept of an integrative technology development strategy which emphasizes the role of in-house R&D during the planning and implementation process for externally sourced technology. They divide the external sourcing process into two major components: an acquisition phase and an implementation phase. Next, they define five distinct stages within both phases. Based on a review of the literature, the authors identify some common problems with external sourcing and discuss potential ways that in-house R&D can alleviate them by becoming involved in specific steps in each of the ten stages. The data in the article have been obtained from thirty-one cases of external sourcing of technology from a diverse group of industries in the United States and India. R&D's involvement in the external technology process varies among firms and is generally low in the acquisition phase. In the research, R&D managers describe barriers to their involvement, and the article develops measures of effectiveness of the activities in each stage of the external sourcing process. The authors recommend removing relevant barriers, especially in those stages where the involvement of in-house R&D groups could increase the effectiveness of the process.     

Synthesizing R&D planning and business strategy: some preliminary findings

The need for firms to compete in the longer run by offering superior products at competitive prices requires better integration of R&D, and technology in general, into business strategy development. A survey based on personal interviews of 40 respondents from “Fortune 500” U. S. industrial firms reveals that their shift in emphasis toward new product/process R&D is providing the impetus for placing R&D in a strategic context. However, R&D has not been fully integrated into the strategic planning process of many organizations. The results of the survey reveal that certain communication channels can be more fully utilized to meld R&D planning into business strategy. Specific suggestions to facilitate information exchange, dissemination of planning data, and integration of various R&D plans into a cohesive technology strategy are given.     

Reasons for corporate research and development spin‐outs – the chemical and pharmaceutical industry as example

The spin‐out of research and development (R&D) activities from established companies has increased during recent years. The reasons for realising corporate spin‐outs, especially regarding the involvement of financial investors, were investigated based on 30 European case studies within the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The reasons can be categorised into two groups: an investment and a divestment rationale. Whereas the chemical industry uses both rationales, there are only divestment cases in the pharmaceutical industry. The investment cases within the chemical industry show that R&D spin‐outs can make an important contribution towards the flexibilisation and performance improvement of a company's internal R&D. The divestment cases show that R&D spin‐outs can be a suitable possibility to continue promising R&D activities. The survival rate of the analysed spin‐outs is high and numerous new jobs have been created in the past years, especially in pharmaceutical spin‐outs.     

Synthesizing R&D planning and business strategy: some preliminary findings

The need for firms to compete in the longer run by offering superior products at competitive prices requires better integration of R&D, and technology in general, into business strategy development. A survey based on personal interviews of 40 respondents from "Fortune 500" U. S. industrial firms reveals that their shift in emphasis toward new product/process R&D is providing the impetus for placing R&D in a strategic context. However, R&D has not been fully integrated into the strategic planning process of many organizations. The results of the survey reveal that certain communication channels can be more fully utilized to meld R&D planning into business strategy. Specific suggestions to facilitate information exchange, dissemination of planning data, and integration of various R&D plans into a cohesive technology strategy are given.     

Research and development target‐setting difficulties addressed through the emergent method: technology forecasting using data envelopment analysis

The aim of this study is to provide a foundation for researchers and managers to discuss and resolve difficulties associated with research and development (R&D) target‐setting. While multiple studies mention the difficulty of R&D target‐setting, few have compiled reasons for these difficulties or addressed this issue in detail. This paper provides one of the first studies outlining reasons for R&D target‐setting difficulties through a literature review. It also provides an initial set of analyses and results after applying an emerging quantitative method, Technology Forecasting Using Data Envelopment Analysis (TFDEA), to illustrate these difficulties step‐by‐step to commercial airplanes. Results include determining the state of art in commercial airplane technology and technological rate‐of‐change variants in setting R&D targets.     

MARKET COMPETITION,R&D AND FIRM PROFITS IN ASYMMETRIC OLIGOPOLY*

We investigate a Cournot model with strategic R&D investments wherein efficient low‐cost firms compete against less efficient high‐cost firms. We find that an increase in the number of high‐cost firms can stimulate R&D by the low‐cost firms, while it always reduces R&D by the high‐cost firms. More importantly, this force can be strong enough to compensate for the loss that arises from more intense market competition: the low‐cost firms' profits may indeed increase with the number of high‐cost firms. An implication of this result is far‐reaching, as it gives low‐cost firms an incentive to help, rather than harm, high‐cost competitors. We relate this implication to a practice known as open knowledge disclosure, especially Ford's strategy of disclosing its know‐how publicly and extensively at the beginning of the 20th century.     

Product Development Strategy: An Integration of Technology and Marketing

Although it seems obvious that a new product development strategy must bring together marketing and R&D strategies, the conceptual development of marketing and R&D strategies has taken place in relative isolation. More than ten years ago, when Professor Harry Nyström began his research program on product development in Swedish firms, he realized that the isolation wasn't an appropriate point of view. He began to construct a conceptual framework for analyzing product development strategies that incorporated many more variables than had traditionally been considered. The latest set of firms in the research program are four pulp and paper companies. They are in mature, process industries, quite unlike the earlier study firms. Yet many of the same propositions from the earlier research still hold. In this article, Professor Nyström presents the most recent version of his framework to help managers develop an integrated product development strategy.     

Development of a model to estimate the economic impacts of R&D output of public research institutes

This paper proposes a modeling framework to estimate the economic impacts of R&D output of public research institutes. The framework models the process of R&D output generating the economic impacts. The authors collect case data of market‐creation economic impacts originating from R&D output of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan. On the basis of the case studies, the process of R&D output generating economic impacts is modeled in the following four stages: (1) R&D output, (2) technology transfer, (3) commercialization, and (4) market impacts. The model describes these stages using six parameters. This paper presents the model and case studies, and discusses the application of the model.