The Catch-up Strategy of Petrobrás through Cooperative R&D

Abstract

This article seeks to reflect on the possibilities of cooperative R&D to constitute an opportunity for companies in developing countries to take part in the innovation concerning technological frontier. In order to show this thesis can be true, this article is based on the case study of Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, which has employed the resource of cooperative R&D to gain access to the new subsea boosting technology and to acquire a place in the vanguard of such technology. However, the catch-up occurs only when firms in developing countries actively take part in the innovation process and accomplish an efficient process of technological learning, which is reflected on the evolution of interactions with external partners. The experience of Petrobras is analyzed emphasizing the technological learning process through the transformation in its agreements with external partners. We present three cases of subsea boosting technologies developed by Petrobras together with a majority of foreign producers or institutes. The analysis of these experiences allows us to show that the learning process and the mastery of in-house processes were accompanied by a significant evolution in the agreements with external sources. Petrobras passes on from the position of cosponsor to that of articulator of the innovation process in technological cooperation agreements. The article proposes an evolutionary sequence to analyze the company's learning process. The evolutionary trajectories are different in each case, but in all of them it was possible to prove the increasing commitment of Petrobras to the innovation effort.