A central part of the innovation process concerns the way firms go about organizing search for new ideas that have commercial potential. New models of innovation have suggested that many innovative ...firms have changed the way they search for new ideas, adopting open search strategies that involve the use of a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve and sustain innovation. Using a large-scale sample of industrial firms, this paper links search strategy to innovative performance, finding that searching widely and deeply is curvilinearly (taking an inverted U-shape) related to performance.
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While drawing on theories of distributed innovation and search, we conjecture that because a lot of important knowledge can only be obtained through the use of a product, the use of customer ...knowledge is beneficial for firms' innovative performance. However, the use of customer knowledge also has an important downside as customers may often be conservative (for many good reasons), forcing producer firms to search for new solutions along established paths, while shying away from truly new and promising opportunities. In this paper these two forces are reconciled through an argument stating that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between the intensity of the use of customer knowledge and innovative performance. We hypothesize that the negative effect at high levels of intensity of the use of customer knowledge is offset by firms' broader search strategies in terms of the breadth of external search among other sources of innovation: If firms search more broadly among several sources of innovation, they are much more likely to enjoy the benefits of customer knowledge, while avoiding important negative aspects. Overall, we find empirical support for these conjectures.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
To introduce new products, firms often use knowledge from other organizations. Drawing on social capital theory and the relational view of the firm, we argue that geographically localized social ...capital affects a firm's ability to innovate through various external channels. Combining data on social capital at the regional level, with a large-scale data set of the innovative activities of a representative sample of 2,413 Italian manufacturing firms from 21 regions, and controlling for a large set of firm and regional characteristics, we find that being located in a region characterized by a high level of social capital leads to a higher propensity to innovate. We find also that being located in an area characterized by a high degree of localized social capital is complementary to firms' investments in internal research and development (R&D) and that such a location positively moderates the effectiveness of externally acquired R&D on the propensity to innovate.
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4.
Searching high and low Laursen, Keld; Salter, Ammon
Research policy,
10/2004, Volume:
33, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This paper examines the factors that influence why firms draw from universities in their innovative activities. The link between the universities and industrial innovation, and the role of different ...search strategies in influencing the propensity of firms to use universities is explored. The results suggest that firms who adopt “open” search strategies and invest in R&D are more likely than other firms to draw from universities, indicating that managerial choice matters in shaping the propensity of firms to draw from universities.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Laursen K., Reichstein T. and Salter A. Exploring the effect of geographical proximity and university quality on university-industry collaboration in the United Kingdom, Regional Studies. This paper ...concerns the geographical distance between a firm and the universities in its local area. It is argued that firms' decisions to collaborate with universities for innovation are influenced by both geographical proximity to universities and the quality of these universities. The findings show that being located close to a lower-tier university reduces the propensity for firms to collaborate locally, while co-location with top-tier universities promotes collaboration. However, it is also found that if faced with the choice, firms appear to give preference to the research quality of the university partner over geographical closeness. This is particularly true for high-research and development intensive firms.
Laursen K., Reichstein T. et Salter A. Examiner l'impact de la proximité géographique et de la qualité des universités sur la collaboration industrialo-universitaire aux Etats-Unis, Regional Studies. Cet article traite de l'importance de la distance géographique entre une enterprise et les universités environnantes. On affirme que les décisions de l'entreprise quant aux possibilités de collaborer dans le domaine de l'innovation sont influencées à la fois par la proximité géographique des universités et par la qualité de ces universités. Les résultats laissent voir que la proximité des universités de rang inférieur réduit la propension des entreprises à collaborarer sur le plan local, tandis qu'un emplacement à proximité des universités de rang supérieur encourage la collaboration. Néanmoins, il s'avère aussi que, par choix, les entreprises semblent préférer un partenariat universitaire fondé sur la qualité de la recherche que sur la proximité géographique des universités. Cela vaut notamment pour les entreprises à fort niveau de recherche-développement.
Collaboration industrialo-universitaire Proximité géographique Qualité des universités
Laursen K., Reichstein T. und Salter A. Die Auswirkung der geografischen Nähe und der Qualität von Universitäten auf die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Universitäten und Industrie in Großbritannien, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir den geografischen Abstand zwischen einer Firma und den Universitäten in ihrer Umgebung. Es wird argumentiert, dass die Entscheidungen von Firmen, im Bereich der Innovation mit Universitäten zusammenzuarbeiten, sowohl von der geografischen Nähe zu Universitäten als auch von der Qualität dieser Universitäten beeinflusst werden. Aus den Ergebnissen geht hervor, dass die Nähe zu einer Universität der unteren Stufe die Bereitschaft von Firmen zur lokalen Zusammenarbeit senkt, während die Nähe zu einer Universität der obersten Stufe die Zusammenarbeit fördert. Gleichzeitig stellen wir aber auch fest, dass Firmen, wenn sie die Wahl haben, offensichtlich der Forschungsqualität der Partneruniversität einen höheren Stellenwert einräumen als der geografischen Nähe. Dies gilt vor allem für Firmen mit einem hohen Anteil an Forschung und Entwicklung.
Zusammenarbeit zwischen Universitäten und Industrie Geografische Nähe Qualität von Universitäten
Laursen K., Reichstein T. y Salter A. Análisis del efecto de proximidad geográfica y la calidad universitaria en la colaboración entre la universidad y la industria en el Reino Unido, Regional Studies. Este artículo trata sobre la distancia geográfica entre una empresa y las universidades en su comunidad. Sostenemos que las decisiones de las empresas de colaborar con universidades para la innovación están influenciadas por la proximidad geográfica a las universidades y la calidad de las mismas. Los resultados muestran que si una empresa está ubicada cerca de una universidad de nivel inferior, se reduce su predisposición a colaborar localmente, mientras que estar ubicado cerca de una universidad de nivel superior fomenta la colaboración. Sin embargo, también observamos que si tienen la opción de elegir, parece que las empresas dan preferencia a la calidad de investigación de la universidad socia en vez de la proximidad geográfica. Este hecho se pone particularmente de manifiesto en empresas con alto nivel de investigación y desarrollo.
Colaboración universidad-industria Proximidad geográfica Calidad universitaria
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We synthesize and provide a critical overview of the set of quantitative papers on open innovation which have had an influence on analyses of open innovation in a corporate strategy context. We ...categorize the literature into (a) firms’ external search and knowledge sourcing activities, (b) absorptive capacity, and (c) appropriability. We discuss the firm and individual level contributions to each of these literature streams, identifying those contributions specific to knowledge about open innovation and unresolved issues which represent future research opportunities. In addition, we try to draw some lessons in terms of future challenges for open innovation research in relation to the growth and influence of this domain. Specifically, we discuss some specific problems related to the robustness, validity, reliability, and causal identification of open innovation research, and how these might be overcome through a new research approach. We conclude by proposing a checklist for future quantitative empirical studies of open innovation.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This paper provides an analysis of Balassa’s ‘revealed comparative advantage’ (RCA). It shows that when using RCA, it should be adjusted such that it becomes symmetric around its neutral value. The ...proposed adjusted index is called ‘revealed symmetric comparative advantage’ (RSCA). The theoretical discussion focuses on the properties of RSCA and empirical evidence, based on the Jarque–Bera test for normality of the regression error terms, using both the RCA and RSCA indices. We compare RSCA to other measures of international trade specialization including the Michaely index, the Contribution to Trade Balance, Chi Square, and Bowen’s Net Trade Index. The result of the analysis is that RSCA—on balance—is the best measure of comparative advantage.
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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This article critically reviews and synthesizes the contributions found in theoretical and empirical studies of firm-level innovation search processes. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of ...local and non-local search, discusses organizational responses, and identifies potential exogenous triggers for different kinds of search. It argues that the initial focus on local search was a consequence, in part, of the attention in evolutionary economics to path-dependent behavior, but that as localized behavior was increasingly accepted as the standard mode, studies began to question whether local search was the best solution in all cases. More recently, the literature has focused on the trade-offs being created, by firms having to balance local and non-local search. We account also for the apparent "variety paradox" in the stylized fact that organizations within the same industry tend to follow different search strategies, but end up with very similar technological profiles in fast-growing technologies. The article concludes by highlighting what we have learnt from the literature and suggesting some new avenues for research. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
•Explores how firms’ degree of openness for innovation is related to the strength of their appropriability strategy.•Overall appropriability strategy has a concave relationship with external search ...breadth and collaboration breadth.•The concave link with appropriability strategy is stronger for collaboration breadth than for external search breadth.•Some evidence suggests that the links are weaker when firms do not draw from or collaborate with their competitors.
To innovate, firms often need to draw from, and collaborate with, a large number of actors from outside their organization. At the same time, firms need also to be focused on capturing the returns from their innovative ideas. This gives rise to a paradox of openness—the creation of innovations often requires openness, but the commercialization of innovations requires protection. Based on econometric analysis of data from a UK innovation survey, we find a concave relationship between firms’ breadth of external search and formal collaboration for innovation, and the strength of the firms’ appropriability strategies. We show that this concave relationship is stronger for breadth of formal collaboration than for external search. There is also partial evidence suggesting that the relationship is less pronounced for both external search and formal collaboration if firms do not draw ideas from or collaborate with competitors. We explore the implications of these findings for the literature on open innovation and innovation strategy.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Research Summary: We combine the absorptive capacity and social network theory approaches to predict how intrafirm "whole" network characteristics affect the firm's speed of absorption of external ...knowledge to produce inventions. We start from the widely accepted view that distant, externally-developed knowledge is difficult to absorb into the focal firm's own knowledge production. We suggest that high levels of intrafirm inventor task network diversity and task network density are essential for a diversity of knowledge inputs and coordinated actions regarding knowledge transfer, which in turn, reduces problems related to the absorption of knowledge—especially in the case of knowledge that is distant from the focal firm. The results of an event history study of 113 pharmaceutical firms that engaged in technology in-licensing from 1986 to 2003 provide general support for our hypotheses. Managerial Summary: Firms keen to keep up with an uncertain and ever-changing industry environment, can benefit from the speedy introduction of inventions. We examine how firms absorb licensed-in technologies to nurture the rapid development of own related inventions. We show that a firm's absorption speed depends on the characteristics of the internal collaboration networks among the firm's inventor employees. More specifically, technologically diverse and well-connected inventor networks improve the firm's ability to absorb external technologies quickly. This applies especially to externally acquired technologies that are unfamiliar to the firm. Depending on the distance of the acquired technology from the focal firm combined with speed-inducing inventor network characteristics, our estimates suggest that firms can reduce the time needed for absorption by several months.
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