IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ecinnt/v25y2016i7p651-667.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing portfolio risk in strategic technology management: evidence from a panel data-set of the world's largest R&D performers

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Neuhäusler
  • Torben Schubert
  • Rainer Frietsch
  • Knut Blind

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the impact of firms’ technology bases on their financial performance. By taking a strategic perspective of technology, we argue that it is not sufficient to analyze only the size or novelty/quality of the technology base as technology bases can best be understood as portfolios of individual technologies. In such a framework, risk consideration should be taken into account. More specifically, we argue that increasing technological breadth can serve as a hedge against the inherent uncertainties of developing and commercializing technology, in particular when the technology base is very large or novel. We also propose that technology has higher impacts on financial performance for firms with broader technology portfolios. A similar argument proposes that technological breadth can offset the increased risks of addressing foreign markets. We test our hypotheses using an international panel data-set of large R&D-performing firms. Our results suggest that broad technology portfolios can indeed serve as a hedge against technological and commercialization risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Neuhäusler & Torben Schubert & Rainer Frietsch & Knut Blind, 2016. "Managing portfolio risk in strategic technology management: evidence from a panel data-set of the world's largest R&D performers," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(7), pages 651-667, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:25:y:2016:i:7:p:651-667
    DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2015.1109780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10438599.2015.1109780
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10438599.2015.1109780?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Christoph Grimpe & Ulrich Kaiser, 2010. "Balancing Internal and External Knowledge Acquisition: The Gains and Pains from R&D Outsourcing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1483-1509, December.
    3. Christoph H. Loch & Christian Terwiesch & Stefan Thomke, 2001. "Parallel and Sequential Testing of Design Alternatives," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(5), pages 663-678, May.
    4. Torben Schubert, 2010. "Marketing and Organisational Innovations in Entrepreneurial Innovation Processes and their Relation to Market Structure and Firm Characteristics," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 36(2), pages 189-212, March.
    5. Hagedoorn, John & Cloodt, Myriam, 2003. "Measuring innovative performance: is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1365-1379, September.
    6. Bartov, Eli & Bodnar, Gordon M. & Kaul, Aditya, 1996. "Exchange rate variability and the riskiness of U.S. multinational firms: Evidence from the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 105-132, September.
    7. Lambrecht, Bart M. & Myers, Stewart C., 2008. "Debt and managerial rents in a real-options model of the firm," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 209-231, August.
    8. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Firm Size and the Nature of Innovation within Industries: The Case of Process and Product R&D," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 232-243, May.
    9. Lin, Chinho & Chang, Chia-Chi, 2015. "The effect of technological diversification on organizational performance: An empirical study of S&P 500 manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PB), pages 575-586.
    10. Krafft Jackie & Quatraro Francesco & Colombelli Alessandra, 2011. "High Growth Firms and Technological Knowledge: Do gazelles follow exploration or exploitation strategies?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201114, University of Turin.
    11. Richard R. Nelson & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Evolutionary Theorizing in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 23-46, Spring.
    12. Admati, Anat R & Pfleiderer, Paul & Zechner, Josef, 1994. "Large Shareholder Activism, Risk Sharing, and Financial Market Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1097-1130, December.
    13. Chuck C Y Kwok & David M Reeb, 2000. "Internationalization and Firm Risk: An Upstream-Downstream Hypothesis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 31(4), pages 611-629, December.
    14. Albert, M. B. & Avery, D. & Narin, F. & McAllister, P., 1991. "Direct validation of citation counts as indicators of industrially important patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 251-259, June.
    15. Arora, Ashish, 1997. "Patents, licensing, and market structure in the chemical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 391-403, December.
    16. Ceci, Federica & Prencipe, Andrea, 2013. "Does Distance Hinder Coordination? Identifying and Bridging Boundaries of Offshored Work," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 324-332.
    17. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    18. Helfat, C.E. & Raubitschek, R.S., 2000. "Product Sequencing: Co-Evolution of Knowledge, Capabilities and Products," Papers 00-1, U.S. Department of Justice - Antitrust Division.
    19. Baier, Elisabeth & Rammer, Christian & Schubert, Torben, 2015. "The Impact of Captive Innovation Offshoring on the Effectiveness of Organizational Adaptation," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 150-165.
    20. Dornbusch, Friedrich & Neuhäusler, Peter, 2015. "Composition of inventor teams and technological progress – The role of collaboration between academia and industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 1360-1375.
    21. Lee Fleming, 2001. "Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 117-132, January.
    22. Hughes, John S. & Logue, Dennis E. & Sweeney, Richard James, 1975. "Corporate International Diversification and Market Assigned Measures of Risk and Diversification," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 627-637, November.
    23. Klepper, Steven & Simons, Kenneth L., 2005. "Industry shakeouts and technological change," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(1-2), pages 23-43, February.
    24. Law, Kuok Kei, 2014. "The problem with knowledge ambiguity," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 444-450.
    25. Varun Sharma & David W. Coit & Ahmet Oztekin & James T. Luxhøj, 2009. "A decision analytic approach for technology portfolio prioritization: aviation safety applications," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(6), pages 843-864, September.
    26. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    27. Breschi, Stefano & Lissoni, Francesco & Malerba, Franco, 2003. "Knowledge-relatedness in firm technological diversification," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 69-87, January.
    28. Lori Rosenkopf & Atul Nerkar, 2001. "Beyond local search: boundary‐spanning, exploration, and impact in the optical disk industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 287-306, April.
    29. Christoph Grimpe & Ulrich Kaiser, 2010. "Balancing Internal and External Knowledge Acquisition: The Gains and Pains from R&D Outsourcing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 1483-1509, December.
    30. Fischer, Timo & Leidinger, Jan, 2014. "Testing patent value indicators on directly observed patent value—An empirical analysis of Ocean Tomo patent auctions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 519-529.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Daimer, Stephanie & Hufnagl, Miriam & Frietsch, Rainer & Lindner, Ralf & Neuhäusler, Peter & Rothengatter, Oliver, 2018. "Die Leistungsfähigkeit des deutschen Innovationssystems: Eine Bilanz der Patentaktivitäten nach zehn Jahren Hightech-Strategie," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 57, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    2. Petros Gkotsis & Antonio Vezzani, 2019. "Heterogeneity of technology-specific R&D investments. Evidence from top R&D investors worldwide," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2018-04, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Wayne Fu & Che‐Ping (Jack) Su, 2021. "The implications of efficiency differences in sustainable development: An empirical study in the consumer product industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2489-2504, July.
    4. Grillitsch, Markus & Schubert, Torben & Srholec, Martin, 2019. "Knowledge base combinations and firm growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 234-247.
    5. Blind, Knut & Krieger, Bastian & Pellens, Maikel, 2022. "The interplay between product innovation, publishing, patenting and developing standards," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Neuhäusler , Peter & Schubert, Torben & Frietsch , Rainer & Blind , Knut, 2015. "Managing Portfolio Risk in Strategic Technology Management: Evidence from a Panel Data Set of the World’s Largest R&D Performers," Papers in Innovation Studies 2015/41, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    2. Maria Chiara Di Guardo & Kathryn Rudie Harrigan & Elona Marku, 2019. "M&A and diversification strategies: what effect on quality of inventive activity?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(3), pages 669-692, September.
    3. Sang Ho Kook & Ki Hong Kim & Chulung Lee, 2017. "Dynamic Technological Diversification and Its Impact on Firms’ Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Korean IT Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-16, July.
    4. Grillitsch, Markus & Schubert, Torben & Srholec, Martin, 2019. "Knowledge base combinations and firm growth," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 234-247.
    5. Frank T. Rothaermel & Maria Tereza Alexandre, 2009. "Ambidexterity in Technology Sourcing: The Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 759-780, August.
    6. Bart Leten & Rene Belderbos & Bart Van Looy, 2016. "Entry and Technological Performance in New Technology Domains: Technological Opportunities, Technology Competition and Technological Relatedness," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(8), pages 1257-1291, December.
    7. Bernal, Pilar & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2022. "Knowledge spillovers, R&D partnerships and innovation performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Torben Schubert & Elisabeth Baier & Christian Rammer, 2018. "Firm capabilities, technological dynamism and the internationalisation of innovation: A behavioural approach," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(1), pages 70-95, January.
    9. Schubert, Torben & Baier, Elisabeth & Rammer, Christian, 2016. "Technological capabilities, technological dynamism and innovation offshoring," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-044, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Nicolaï Foss & Nils Stieglitz, 2012. "Modern Resource-based Theory(ies)," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 20, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Jason Li-Ying & Yuandi Wang & Lutao Ning, 2016. "How do dynamic capabilities transform external technologies into firms’ renewed technological resources? – A mediation model," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1009-1036, December.
    12. Keijl, S. & Gilsing, V.A. & Knoben, J. & Duysters, G., 2016. "The two faces of inventions: The relationship between recombination and impact in pharmaceutical biotechnology," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(5), pages 1061-1074.
    13. Castellani, Davide & Montresor, Sandro & Schubert, Torben & Vezzani, Antonio, 2017. "Multinationality, R&D and productivity: Evidence from the top R&D investors worldwide," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 405-416.
    14. Wu, Jie & Wu, Zefu, 2014. "Local and international knowledge search and product innovation: The moderating role of technology boundary spanning," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 542-551.
    15. Stephan, Annegret & Bening, Catharina R. & Schmidt, Tobias S. & Schwarz, Marius & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2019. "The role of inter-sectoral knowledge spillovers in technological innovations: The case of lithium-ion batteries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    16. Ardito, Lorenzo & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2017. "Breadth of external knowledge sourcing and product innovation: The moderating role of strategic human resource practices," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 261-272.
    17. Barirani, Ahmad & Beaudry, Catherine & Agard, Bruno, 2017. "Can universities profit from general purpose inventions? The case of Canadian nanotechnology patents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 271-283.
    18. Grimpe, Christoph & Sofka, Wolfgang, 2016. "Complementarities in the search for innovation—Managing markets and relationships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 2036-2053.
    19. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    20. Wallin, Tina, 2017. "An empirical study of firms’ absorptive capacity and export diversification," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 452, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:25:y:2016:i:7:p:651-667. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/GEIN20 .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.