IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v40y2011i4p565-575.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Costs and benefits of inter-departmental innovation collaboration

Author

Listed:
  • Cuijpers, Maarten
  • Guenter, Hannes
  • Hussinger, Katrin

Abstract

Inter-departmental innovation collaboration facilitates innovation performance. At the same time, it has been identified as a source of increased coordination costs. Using organizational information processing theory, this paper builds and tests hypotheses on the costs and benefits of innovation-related collaboration within firms. Based on a sample of 433 German manufacturing firms we show inter-departmental innovation collaboration to increase process innovation performance, but also to produce costs in terms of project delay and project termination. These costs, however, do not affect innovation performance at the firm level. This finding suggests firms to be well able to balance the costs and benefits of inter-departmental collaboration across their innovation project portfolio. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Cuijpers, Maarten & Guenter, Hannes & Hussinger, Katrin, 2011. "Costs and benefits of inter-departmental innovation collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 565-575, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:40:y:2011:i:4:p:565-575
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048-7333(10)00255-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

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

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Atul Nerkar & Peter W. Roberts, 2004. "Technological and product‐market experience and the success of new product introductions in the pharmaceutical industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 779-799, August.
    2. Dirk Czarnitzki & Kornelius Kraft, 2006. "R&D and Firm Performance in a Transition Economy," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 481-496, November.
    3. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211.
    4. Dirk Czarnitzki & Hanna Hottenrott, 2009. "Are Local Milieus The Key To Innovation Performance?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 81-112, February.
    5. Deborah Dougherty, 1992. "Interpretive Barriers to Successful Product Innovation in Large Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 179-202, May.
    6. Shepherd, Dean A. & Kuratko, Donald F., 2009. "The death of an innovative project: How grief recovery enhances learning," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 451-458, September.
    7. Michael Fritsch & Monika Meschede, 2001. "Product Innovation, Process Innovation, and Size," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 19(3), pages 335-350, November.
    8. Christian Rammer & Dirk Czarnitzki & Alfred Spielkamp, 2009. "Innovation success of non-R&D-performers: substituting technology by management in SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 35-58, June.
    9. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    10. Roper, Stephen & Du, Jun & Love, James H., 2008. "Modelling the innovation value chain," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 961-977, July.
    11. James H. Love & Stephen Roper & Giovanni Mangiarotti, 2006. "Organizing Innovation Complementarities between Cross-Functional Teams," DRUID Working Papers 06-27, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    12. Richard L. Daft & Robert H. Lengel, 1986. "Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 554-571, May.
    13. De Meyer, Arnoud C. L., 1985. "The flow of technological innovation in an R & D department," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 315-328, December.
    14. Tomlinson, Philip R., 2010. "Co-operative ties and innovation: Some new evidence for UK manufacturing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 762-775, July.
    15. Lhuillery, Stéphane & Pfister, Etienne, 2009. "R&D cooperation and failures in innovation projects: Empirical evidence from French CIS data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 45-57, February.
    16. Kevin B. Hendricks & Vinod R. Singhal, 2008. "The Effect of Product Introduction Delays on Operating Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(5), pages 878-892, May.
    17. Kirner, Eva & Kinkel, Steffen & Jaeger, Angela, 2009. "Innovation paths and the innovation performance of low-technology firms--An empirical analysis of German industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 447-458, April.
    18. Jay R. Galbraith, 1974. "Organization Design: An Information Processing View," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 28-36, May.
    19. Abbie Griffin & John R. Hauser, 1992. "Patterns of Communication Among Marketing, Engineering and Manufacturing---A Comparison Between Two New Product Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(3), pages 360-373, March.
    20. Ron Adner & Daniel Levinthal, 2001. "Demand Heterogeneity and Technology Evolution: Implications for Product and Process Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(5), pages 611-628, May.
    21. Engwall, Mats, 2003. "No project is an island: linking projects to history and context," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 789-808, May.
    22. West, Jonathan, 2000. "Institutions, information processing, and organization structure in research and development: evidence from the semiconductor industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 349-373, March.
    23. Sumantra Ghoshal & Harry Korine & Gabriel Szulanski, 1994. "Interunit Communication in Multinational Corporations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(1), pages 96-110, January.
    24. Mohan V. Tatikonda & Mitzi M. Montoya-Weiss, 2001. "Integrating Operations and Marketing Perspectives of Product Innovation: The Influence of Organizational Process Factors and Capabilities on Development Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(1), pages 151-172, January.
    25. Justin J. P. Jansen & Michiel P. Tempelaar & Frans A. J. van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2009. "Structural Differentiation and Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Integration Mechanisms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 797-811, August.
    26. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    27. Dean A. Shepherd & Melissa S. Cardon, 2009. "Negative Emotional Reactions to Project Failure and the Self‐Compassion to Learn from the Experience," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(6), pages 923-949, September.
    28. Becker, Markus C. & Lillemark, Morten, 2006. "Marketing/R&D integration in the pharmaceutical industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 105-120, February.
    29. Rivers, Douglas & Vuong, Quang H., 1988. "Limited information estimators and exogeneity tests for simultaneous probit models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 347-366, November.
    30. Jinhong Xie & X. Michael Song & Anne Stringfellow, 1998. "Interfunctional Conflict, Conflict Resolution Styles, and New Product Success: A Four-Culture Comparison," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(12-Part-2), pages 192-206, December.
    31. Janet Bercovitz & Will Mitchell, 2007. "When is more better? The impact of business scale and scope on long‐term business survival, while controlling for profitability," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 61-79, January.
    32. Dirk Czarnitzki, 2005. "The Extent and Evolution of Productivity Deficiency in Eastern Germany," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 211-231, October.
    33. Christian Zeller, 2002. "Project Teams as Means of Restructuring Research and Development in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 275-289.
    34. Andrew C. Corbett & Heidi M. Neck & Dawn R. DeTienne, 2007. "How Corporate Entrepreneurs Learn from Fledgling Innovation Initiatives: Cognition and the Development of a Termination Script," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(6), pages 829-852, November.
    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. Fulvio Castellacci & Magnus Gulbrandsen & Jarle Hildrum & E. Martinkenaite & Erlend Simensen & Vegard Tveito, 2016. "How Does Innovation Differ across Business Functions? Employee-level Analysis of a Multinational Company," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20160321, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    2. Witjes, Sjors & Lozano, Rodrigo, 2016. "Towards a more Circular Economy: Proposing a framework linking sustainable public procurement and sustainable business models," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 37-44.
    3. Elena G. Kalabina & Olga Yu. Belyak, 2021. "Cross-functional teams: Central research avenues in management," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 12(6), pages 101-114, October.
    4. Gupta, Shivam & Modgil, Sachin & Bhatt, Priyanka C. & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Kamble, Sachin, 2023. "Quantum computing led innovation for achieving a more sustainable Covid-19 healthcare industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Jane Bourke & Frank Crowley, 2016. "Which organisational changes are most beneficial for firm innovation?," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 152-158.
    6. Rajeev Mukundan & Sam Thomas, 2016. "Collaborative and open innovation: supply chain planning as an effective source," International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 12(1), pages 128-140.
    7. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2017. "Project failures and innovation performance in university–firm collaborations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 865-883, August.
    8. Castellacci, Fulvio & Gulbrandsen, Magnus & Hildrum, Jarle & Martinkenaite, Ieva & Simensen, Erlend, 2018. "Functional centrality and innovation intensity: Employee-level analysis of the Telenor group," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1674-1687.
    9. Zafer Sonmez, 2018. "Interregional inventor collaboration and the commercial value of patented inventions: evidence from the US biotechnology industry," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 399-438, September.
    10. Frank Crowley & Jane Bourke, 2018. "The Influence Of The Manager On Firm Innovation In Emerging Economies," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-21, April.
    11. Mohsen, Kholoud & Eng, Teck-Yong, 2016. "The antecedents of cross-functional coordination and their implications for marketing adaptiveness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5946-5955.
    12. Steffen Roth & Augusto Sales & Jari Kaivo-oja, 2017. "Multiplying the Division of Labour: Functional Differentiation of the Next Key Variables in Management Research," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 195-207, March.
    13. Johann Piet Hausberg & Peter S. H. Leeflang, 2019. "Absorbing Integration: Empirical Evidence On The Mediating Role Of Absorptive Capacity Between Functional-/Cross-Functional Integration And Innovation Performance," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(06), pages 1-37, August.
    14. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci, 2014. "The dark side of R&D collaborations," Working Papers 1405, c.MET-05 - Centro Interuniversitario di Economia Applicata alle Politiche per L'industria, lo Sviluppo locale e l'Internazionalizzazione.
    15. Houxue Xia & Qingmei Tan & Junhong Bai, 2018. "Corruption and Technological Innovation in Private Small-Medium Scale Companies: Does Female Top Management Play a Role?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, June.
    16. Homburg, Christian & Kuehnl, Christina, 2014. "Is the more always better? A comparative study of internal and external integration practices in new product and new service development," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(7), pages 1360-1367.
    17. Nemet, Gregory F. & Johnson, Evan, 2012. "Do important inventions benefit from knowledge originating in other technological domains?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 190-200.
    18. Keszey, Tamara, 2018. "Trust, perception, and managerial use of market information," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1161-1171.
    19. Patsy Govender, 2012. "Do Not ‘Hit and Miss’ Or ‘Spray and Pray’, Diagnose First," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 4(12), pages 677-690.
    20. Branka Ahlin & Mateja Drnovšek & Robert Hisrich, 2014. "Entrepreneurs’ creativity and firm innovation: the moderating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 101-117, June.

    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. Dirk Czarnitzki & Katrin Hussinger & Cédric Schneider, 2015. "R&D Collaboration with Uncertain Intellectual Property Rights," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 46(2), pages 183-204, March.
    2. Hervas-Oliver, Jose-Luis & Sempere-Ripoll, Francisca & Boronat-Moll, Carles, 2012. "Process innovation objectives and management complementarities: patterns, drivers, co-adoption and performance effects," MERIT Working Papers 2012-051, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    3. Rammer, Christian & Köhler, Christian & Murmann, Martin & Pesau, Agnes & Schwiebacher, Franz & Kinkel, Steffen & Kirner, Eva & Schubert, Torben & Som, Oliver, 2010. "Innovationen ohne Forschung und Entwicklung: Eine Untersuchung zu Unternehmen, die ohne eigene FuE-Tätigkeit neue Produkte und Prozesse einführen," Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem 15-2011, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin.
    4. Janger, Jürgen & Schubert, Torben & Andries, Petra & Rammer, Christian & Hoskens, Machteld, 2017. "The EU 2020 innovation indicator: A step forward in measuring innovation outputs and outcomes?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 30-42.
    5. Johann Piet Hausberg & Peter S. H. Leeflang, 2019. "Absorbing Integration: Empirical Evidence On The Mediating Role Of Absorptive Capacity Between Functional-/Cross-Functional Integration And Innovation Performance," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(06), pages 1-37, August.
    6. Grimpe, Christoph & Hussinger, Katrin, 2009. "Inventions under siege? The impact of technology competition on licensing," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-039, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Owusu Sarpong & Peter Teirlinck, 2018. "The influence of functional and geographical diversity in collaboration on product innovation performance in SMEs," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1667-1695, December.
    8. James Foreman-Peck, 2013. "Effectiveness and efficiency of SME innovation policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 55-70, June.
    9. Moser, Roger & Kuklinski, Christian Paul Jian-Wei & Srivastava, Mohit, 2017. "Information processing fit in the context of emerging markets: An analysis of foreign SBUs in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 234-247.
    10. Barge-Gil, Andrés & López, Alberto, 2014. "R&D determinants: Accounting for the differences between research and development," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1634-1648.
    11. Andrés Barge-Gil & Alberto López, 2015. "R versus D: estimating the differentiated effect of research and development on innovation results," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(1), pages 93-129.
    12. Nanditha Mathew & George Paily, 2022. "STI-DUI innovation modes and firm performance in the Indian capital goods industry: Do small firms differ from large ones?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 435-458, April.
    13. Szutowski Dawid, 2019. "Management Control Systems and Innovation Process Efficiency. A Conceptual Model," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 19(2), pages 160-175, December.
    14. A. Lasagni, 2011. "European SMEs, external relationships and innovation: some empirical evidence," Economics Department Working Papers 2011-EP04, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    15. Rosellon, Maureen Ane D. & del Prado, Fatima Lourdes E., 2017. "Achieving Innovation Without Formal R&D: Philippine Case Study of Garment Firms," Discussion Papers DP 2017-09, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    16. Baumann, Julian & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2016. "The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: Are micro firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1263-1274.
    17. Wadho, Waqar & Chaudhry, Azam, 2020. "Innovation Strategies and Productivity Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Pakistan," GLO Discussion Paper Series 466, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Becker, Annette & Hottenrott, Hanna & Mukherjee, Anwesha, 2022. "Division of labor in R&D? Firm size and specialization in corporate research," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1-23.
    19. Doran, Justin, 2012. "Are different forms of innovation complements or substitutes?," MPRA Paper 44580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kannan Srikanth & Phanish Puranam, 2014. "The Firm as a Coordination System: Evidence from Software Services Offshoring," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1253-1271, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inter-departmental innovation collaboration Innovation performance Project delay Project termination;

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:eee:respol:v:40:y:2011:i:4:p:565-575. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    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.