IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jecsur/v34y2020i1p109-153.html

Effect Of Corporate Scientists On Firms’ Innovation Activity: A Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Liliana Herrera

Abstract

This study reviews the literature on the effect of corporate scientists on firms’ innovation activities. Traditionally, the scientist's role in a firm is linked to the processes of generation and absorption of scientific knowledge. However, a growing number of studies over the years show that the scientist's role in firm innovation processes is more extensive and that they contribute to the development of successful new products, processes and services. However, there are no comprehensive reviews of this literature. This paper fills the gap by providing a systematic review of the empirical literature on the role of the corporate scientists in the innovation process by investigating: (1) theoretical approaches used to evaluate the impact of scientists, (2) the importance for the firm's innovation activity of scientists’ heterogeneity, (3) those firm innovation activities over which scientists exhibit more influence, (4) the variables moderating the effect of scientists and (5) research implications for managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Liliana Herrera, 2020. "Effect Of Corporate Scientists On Firms’ Innovation Activity: A Literature Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 109-153, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jecsur:v:34:y:2020:i:1:p:109-153
    DOI: 10.1111/joes.12341
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12341
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joes.12341?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zellner, Christian, 2003. "The economic effects of basic research: evidence for embodied knowledge transfer via scientists' migration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1881-1895, December.
    2. Iain M. Cockburn & Rebecca M. Henderson, 1998. "Absorptive Capacity, Coauthoring Behavior, and the Organization of Research in Drug Discovery," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 157-182, June.
    3. Lori Rosenkopf & Paul Almeida, 2003. "Overcoming Local Search Through Alliances and Mobility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 751-766, June.
    4. Maggitti, Patrick G. & Smith, Ken G. & Katila, Riitta, 2013. "The complex search process of invention," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 90-100.
    5. Tzabbar, Daniel & Aharonson, Barak S. & Amburgey, Terry L., 2013. "When does tapping external sources of knowledge result in knowledge integration?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 481-494.
    6. Herrmann, Andrea M. & Peine, Alexander, 2011. "When 'national innovation system' meet 'varieties of capitalism' arguments on labour qualifications: On the skill types and scientific knowledge needed for radical and incremental product innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 687-701, June.
    7. Furukawa, Ryuzo & Goto, Akira, 2006. "The role of corporate scientists in innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 24-36, February.
    8. Jeff S. Armstrong & Michael R. Darby & Lynne G. Zucker, 2003. "Commercializing knowledge: university science, knowledge capture and firm performance in biotechnology," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, issue Sep, pages 149-170.
    9. Ulrich Kaiser & Hans C. Kongsted & Keld Laursen & Ann‐Kathrine Ejsing, 2018. "Experience matters: The role of academic scientist mobility for industrial innovation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7), pages 1935-1958, July.
    10. Zvi Griliches, 1984. "R&D, Patents, and Productivity," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number gril84-1.
    11. Andreas Al-Laham & Daniel Tzabbar & Terry L. Amburgey, 2011. "The dynamics of knowledge stocks and knowledge flows: innovation consequences of recruitment and collaboration in biotech," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(2), pages 555-583, April.
    12. Michaël Bikard, 2018. "Made in Academia: The Effect of Institutional Origin on Inventors’ Attention to Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(5), pages 818-836, October.
    13. Perkmann, Markus & Tartari, Valentina & McKelvey, Maureen & Autio, Erkko & Broström, Anders & D’Este, Pablo & Fini, Riccardo & Geuna, Aldo & Grimaldi, Rosa & Hughes, Alan & Krabel, Stefan & Kitson, Mi, 2013. "Academic engagement and commercialisation: A review of the literature on university–industry relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 423-442.
    14. Ryuzo Furukawa & Akira Goto, 2006. "Core scientists and innovation in Japanese electronics companies," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(2), pages 227-240, August.
    15. Rebecca R. Kehoe & Daniel Tzabbar, 2015. "Lighting the way or stealing the shine? An examination of the duality in star scientists' effects on firm innovative performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 709-727, May.
    16. Linus Dahlander & Siobhan O'Mahony & David M. Gann, 2016. "One foot in, one foot out: how does individuals' external search breadth affect innovation outcomes?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 280-302, February.
    17. Janet Bercovitz & Maryann Feldman, 2008. "Academic Entrepreneurs: Organizational Change at the Individual Level," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 69-89, February.
    18. Hohberger, Jan & Almeida, Paul & Parada, Pedro, 2015. "The direction of firm innovation: The contrasting roles of strategic alliances and individual scientific collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1473-1487.
    19. Waverly W. Ding, 2011. "The Impact of Founders' Professional-Education Background on the Adoption of Open Science by For-Profit Biotechnology Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 257-273, February.
    20. Luo, Xiaowei Rose & Koput, Kenneth W. & Powell, Walter W., 2009. "Intellectual capital or signal? The effects of scientists on alliance formation in knowledge-intensive industries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1313-1325, October.
    21. Srikanth Paruchuri & Snehal Awate, 2017. "Organizational knowledge networks and local search: The role of intra‐organizational inventor networks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 657-675, March.
    22. Lee, Hsing-fen & Miozzo, Marcela & Laredo, Philippe, 2010. "Career patterns and competences of PhDs in science and engineering in the knowledge economy: The case of graduates from a UK research-based university," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 869-881, September.
    23. Kaiser, Ulrich & Kongsted, Hans Christian & Rønde, Thomas, 2015. "Does the mobility of R&D labor increase innovation?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 91-105.
    24. Adams, James D, 1990. "Fundamental Stocks of Knowledge and Productivity Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(4), pages 673-702, August.
    25. Michelle Gittelman & Bruce Kogut, 2003. "Does Good Science Lead to Valuable Knowledge? Biotechnology Firms and the Evolutionary Logic of Citation Patterns," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 366-382, April.
    26. Paola Criscuolo & Ammon Salter & Anne L. J. Ter Wal, 2014. "Going Underground: Bootlegging and Individual Innovative Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(5), pages 1287-1305, October.
    27. André Spithoven & Peter Teirlinck, 2010. "External R&D: Exploring The Functions And Qualifications Of R&D Personnel," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(06), pages 967-987.
    28. Barry Bozeman & Daniel Fay & Catherine Slade, 2013. "Research collaboration in universities and academic entrepreneurship: the-state-of-the-art," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-67, February.
    29. Stuart, Toby E. & Ozdemir, Salih Zeki & Ding, Waverly W., 2007. "Vertical alliance networks: The case of university-biotechnology-pharmaceutical alliance chains," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 477-498, May.
    30. Isin Guler & Atul Nerkar, 2012. "The impact of global and local cohesion on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 535-549, May.
    31. Subramanian, Annapoornima M. & Lim, Kwanghui & Soh, Pek-Hooi, 2013. "When birds of a feather don’t flock together: Different scientists and the roles they play in biotech R&D alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 595-612.
    32. Han, Xue & Niosi, Jorge, 2016. "Star scientists in PV technology and the limits of academic entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 1707-1711.
    33. Deeds, David L. & Decarolis, DONA & Coombs, Joseph, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities and new product development in high technology ventures: An empirical analysis of new biotechnology firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 211-229, May.
    34. Paul Almeida & Jan Hohberger & Pedro Parada, 2011. "Individual scientific collaborations and firm-level innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 20(6), pages 1571-1599, December.
    35. Zucker, Lynne G & Darby, Michael R & Armstrong, Jeff, 1998. "Geographically Localized Knowledge: Spillovers or Markets?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 65-86, January.
    36. Herrera, Liliana & Muñoz-Doyague, Maria Felisa & Nieto, Mariano, 2010. "Mobility of public researchers, scientific knowledge transfer, and the firm's innovation process," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 510-518, May.
    37. Herrera, Liliana & Nieto, Mariano, 2016. "PhD careers in Spanish industry: Job determinants in manufacturing versus non-manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 341-351.
    38. Marc Gruber & Dietmar Harhoff & Karin Hoisl, 2013. "Knowledge Recombination Across Technological Boundaries: Scientists vs. Engineers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(4), pages 837-851, April.
    39. Annapoornima M. Subramanian & Young Rok Choi & Soo-Hoon Lee & Chang-Chieh Hang, 2016. "Linking technological and educational level diversities to innovation performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 182-204, April.
    40. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard R. Nelson & John P. Walsh, 2003. "Links and Impacts: The Influence of Public Research on Industrial R&D," Chapters, in: Aldo Geuna & Ammon J. Salter & W. Edward Steinmueller (ed.), Science and Innovation, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    41. Frank T. Rothaermel & Andrew M. Hess, 2007. "Building Dynamic Capabilities: Innovation Driven by Individual-, Firm-, and Network-Level Effects," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(6), pages 898-921, December.
    42. Sapsalis, Eleftherios & van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, Bruno & Navon, Ran, 2006. "Academic versus industry patenting: An in-depth analysis of what determines patent value," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1631-1645, December.
    43. Carlos Vivas & Andrés Barge-Gil, 2015. "Impact On Firms Of The Use Of Knowledge External Sources: A Systematic Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 943-964, December.
    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. Sharma, Abhijit & Sousa, Cristina & Woodward, Richard, 2022. "Determinants of innovation outcomes: The role of institutional quality," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Fabiano, Gianluca & Marcellusi, Andrea & Favato, Giampiero, 2021. "R versus D, from knowledge creation to value appropriation: Ownership of patents filed by European biotechnology founders," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. Pierre Courtioux & Antoine Reberioux & François Métivier, 2021. "The private return of R&D tax credit," Post-Print halshs-03182771, HAL.
    4. Weijie Zhu & Wucheng Han & Ruoyu Lu & Jiasu Lei, 2025. "The impact of enterprises’ scientific capabilities on innovation performance: evidence from an empirical analysis and simulation model," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.

    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. Andrés Barge-Gil & Pablo D'Este & Liliana Herrera, 2021. "PhD trained employees and firms’ transitions to upstream R&D activities," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 424-455, April.
    2. Herrera, Liliana & Nieto, Mariano, 2015. "The determinants of firms' PhD recruitment to undertake R&D activities," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 132-142.
    3. Herrera, Liliana & Nieto, Mariano, 2016. "PhD careers in Spanish industry: Job determinants in manufacturing versus non-manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 341-351.
    4. Barge-Gil, Andres & D'Este, Pablo & Herrera, Liliana, 2018. "Corporate scientists as the triggers of transitions towards firms' exploration research strategies," MPRA Paper 85415, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Jong, Simcha & Slavova, Kremena, 2014. "When publications lead to products: The open science conundrum in new product development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 645-654.
    6. Soh, Pek-Hooi & Subramanian, Annapoornima M., 2014. "When do firms benefit from university–industry R&D collaborations? The implications of firm R&D focus on scientific research and technological recombination," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 807-821.
    7. Fabiano, Gianluca & Marcellusi, Andrea & Favato, Giampiero, 2021. "R versus D, from knowledge creation to value appropriation: Ownership of patents filed by European biotechnology founders," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Leone, Maria Isabella & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio & Natalicchio, Angelo, 2022. "Boundary spanning through external technology acquisition: The moderating role of star scientists and upstream alliances," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    9. René Belderbos & Nazareno Braito & Jian Wang, 2024. "Heterogeneous university research and firm R&D location decisions: research orientation, academic quality, and investment type," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 1959-1989, October.
    10. Hohberger, Jan & Almeida, Paul & Parada, Pedro, 2015. "The direction of firm innovation: The contrasting roles of strategic alliances and individual scientific collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1473-1487.
    11. Hohberger, Jan, 2016. "Diffusion of science-based inventions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 66-77.
    12. Schaper, Thomas & Arts, Sam & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2025. "Not like the others: Frontier scientists for inventive performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(10).
    13. Rotolo, Daniele & Camerani, Roberto & Grassano, Nicola & Martin, Ben R., 2022. "Why do firms publish? A systematic literature review and a conceptual framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    14. Subramanian, Annapoornima M. & Lim, Kwanghui & Soh, Pek-Hooi, 2013. "When birds of a feather don’t flock together: Different scientists and the roles they play in biotech R&D alliances," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 595-612.
    15. Riccardo Fini & Markus Perkmann & Jan-Michael Ross, 2022. "Attention to Exploration: The Effect of Academic Entrepreneurship on the Production of Scientific Knowledge," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 688-715, March.
    16. Dreier, Lukas & Göthner, Maximilian & Lawson, Cornelia, 2025. "Matching or Clashing: Exploring Scientists’ Exit from Academia Through Intentions and Job Offers," IZA Discussion Papers 18347, IZA Network @ LISER.
    17. Denisa Mindruta, 2013. "Value creation in university-firm research collaborations: A matching approach," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(6), pages 644-665, June.
    18. Toole, Andrew A. & King, John L., 2011. "Industry-science connections in agriculture: Do public science collaborations and knowledge flows contribute to firm-level agricultural research productivity?," ZEW Discussion Papers 11-064, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Gianluca Fabiano & Andrea Marcellusi & Giampiero Favato, 2020. "Public–private contribution to biopharmaceutical discoveries: a bibliometric analysis of biomedical research in UK," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(1), pages 153-168, July.
    20. Roberto Camerani & Daniele Rotolo & Nicola Grassano, 2018. "Do Firms Publish? A Multi-Sectoral Analysis," SPRU Working Paper Series 2018-21, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.

    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:bla:jecsur:v:34:y:2020:i:1:p:109-153. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0950-0804 .

    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.