Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

In Search of Complementarity in Innovation Strategy: Internal R& D and External Knowledge Acquisition

Contents:

Author Info

  • Bruno Cassiman

    () (IESE Business School, Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pearson 21, 08034 Barcelona, Spain, and K. U. Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, and CEPR)

  • Reinhilde Veugelers

    () (K. U. Leuven, Naamsestraat 69, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, European Commission (BEPA), and CEPR)

Abstract

Empirical research on complementarity between organizational design decisions has traditionally focused on the question of existence of complementarity. In this paper, we take a broader approach to the issue, combining a "productivity" and an "adoption" approach, while including a search for contextual variables in the firm's strategy that affects complementarity. Analysis of contextual variables is not only interesting per se, but also improves the productivity test for the existence of complementarity. We use our empirical methodology to analyze complementarity between innovation activities: internal research and development (R& D) and external knowledge acquisition. Our results suggest that internal R& D and external knowledge acquisition are complementary innovation activities, but that the degree of complementarity is sensitive to other elements of the firm's strategic environment. We identify reliance on basic R& D--the importance of universities and research centers as an information source for the innovation process--as an important contextual variable affecting complementarity between internal and external innovation activities.

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1050.0470
Download Restriction: no

Bibliographic Info

Article provided by INFORMS in its journal Management Science.

Volume (Year): 52 (2006)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 68-82

as in new window
Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:52:y:2006:i:1:p:68-82

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 300, Hanover, MD 21076 USA
Phone: +1-443-757-3500
Fax: 443-757-3515
Email:
Web page: http://www.informs.org/
More information through EDIRC

Related research

Keywords: complementarity; innovation; research and development; technology acquisition;

Other versions of this item:

References

No references listed on IDEAS
You can help add them by filling out this form.

Citations

Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
as in new window

Cited by:
This item has more than 25 citations. To prevent cluttering this page, these citations are listed on a separate page.

Lists

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:52:y:2006:i:1:p:68-82

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Mirko Janc).

If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.

If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.