External Technology Exploitation Research Articles

Influence of technology acquisition, external technology exploitation and employee autonomy on the performance of bureaucratic organizations

Organizations use technology to prosper in the digital and technological revolutions. The digital and technical revolution has prompted governments to adopt and use technology to provide effective services to citizens. The purpose of this research is to examine how technology acquisition, external technology exploitation, employee autonomy through open innovation and innovation performance affect bureaucratic people’s development. The researcher quantitatively distributed the questionnaire online. Four departments were chosen to collect data from 480 IT-related respondents. For hypothesis testing and correlation, the structural equation model (SEM) was used. The results demonstrated a significant relationship between technology acquisition, open innovation, external technology exploitation, innovation performance, employee autonomy, open innovation and organization performance. The research’s findings revealed that an organization's performance can be practically achieved by obtaining advanced technology, external knowledge and the skills of its personnel through open innovation which can drive innovation performance toward organizational performance. Consequently, it indicates that employees and cutting-edge IT are essential for generating new ideas for open innovation and enhancing an organization's performance. Leaders and employees must understand open innovation to maximize themselves and their organizations’ potential. In addition, the most important practical implication of this research is that implementing advanced technology, innovation and technology management that includes digital literacy can improve the performance of bureaucratic organizations.

External technology acquisition, exploitation and process innovation performance in emerging market small and medium sized enterprises: the moderating role of organizational slack

PurposeThis study is among the very few to examine the firm's simultaneous use of both dimensions of open innovation and its influences on the firm's process innovation performance (PIP). Specifically, the authors consider the relationship between firm's external technology acquisition (ETA) and external technology exploitation (ETE) and examine their direct, indirect and mediating effect on the firm's PIP. The authors also examine the moderating effect of the organizations' unabsorbed slack (UASL) on the relationship between ETA and ETE.Design/methodology/approachAnalyzing data collected from 311 small- and medium-sized software development firms in emerging market; Thailand, we show that both ETA and ETE have a positive effect on PIP and that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP.FindingsThe authors show that both ETA and ETE have a positive effect on PIP and that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP. Moreover, the relationship between ETA and ETE is positively moderated by the firms' unabsorbed slack (UASL) and that the influence of ETA on PIP through ETE is stronger under higher unabsorbed slack.Originality/valueThe authors extend the “traditional” performance outcome of outbound dimension of open innovation concept, which focuses exclusively on commercialization and market (Chesbrough, 2003b), by showing that ETE positively influences the firm's PIP. Moreover, the study explains the mechanism through which ETA influence the firm's PIP by proposing that ETE fully mediates the relationship between ETA and PIP.

Open innovation: from technology exploitation to creation of superior performance

Purpose Nowadays, to develop innovative activities in research and development units, it is desirable to rely on the concept of open innovation to take actions towards the identification of external capabilities of an organization and external knowledge acquisition. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the impact of external technology acquisition (ETA), external technology exploitation (ETE) and culture of innovation (IC) on open innovation (OI) using SEM approach and then examine the amount of the impact of open innovation on organizational performance (OP) and value creation (VC). Design/methodology/approach This study was an applied survey in terms of research purpose and data collection method. The statistical population included all companies in Yazd Science and Technology Park (STP). To collect the data, 109 questionnaires were distributed. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts’ comments, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated equal to 0.873 for reliability. Findings The results indicated, ETA, ETE and IC had significant and positive effects on OI, and OI by itself had a significant and positive impact on OP and VC. However, the hypothesis of the significant and positive effect of VC on OP was rejected. Originality/value Considering the importance of innovative activities of companies in STPs and the role of OI in achieving the goals of idea-driven companies, the present study evaluated the effects of factors affecting the fulfillment of OI in companies based in STPs in the Yazd province of Iran.

External Technology Acquisition and External Technology Exploitation: The Difference of Open Innovation Effects

To sustain in today’s ever-changing and competitive landscape, firms must work within and outside of their organizations’ boundaries. Open innovation (OI) strategies such as external technology acquisition (ETA), and external technology exploitation (ETE), can effectively improve the innovation performance of the organizations. Technologies like social media can help organizations to scout for appropriate technology, and source for ideas and knowledge from external sources to support their innovations. Moreover, digitalization can hasten business operations and enhance the innovation process of the firm. Focusing on open innovation (OI), this study takes an integrated approach towards investigating the impact of OI strategies, technology scouting through social media, and digitalization vision on innovation and firm performance. Data were drawn from 153 organizations in Malaysia, and the partial least squares (PLS) method was used to analyze data. The findings revealed that ETE, technology scouting through social media, and digitalization vision have a significant relationship with innovation performance. This, in turn, shows a positive relationship with firm performance. However, ETA does not have a significant relationship with innovation performance in the Malaysia context. This study extends the current literature on OI through the use of specific technology variables, such as technology scouting through social media and digitalization vision to support organizations’ innovation.

The Role of Open Business Model in Technology Commercialization

Purpose: This paper has examined the impact of open innovation business model in technology commercialization with the data from 30 companies of manufacturing firms in South Korea. Methods: The findings provide support for distinguishing five hypotheses relating to development time, IP management, sales, firm size and R&D intensity. To test the hypotheses, data were collected using via e-mail and fax. Small and medium-sized (less than 300 employees) and large industrial firms were chosen for this study. Results: The result shows that openness in its business model is positively associated with successful technology commercialization. Conclusion: The major findings and the implications are: First, as the business model gets more open, development period of technology will be more favorable which gets benefit from rising costs of innovation. Second, as the business model gets more open, large portion of sales are created from new products. Thus, the problem of shorter product life in the market which affects large portion of market revenue can be solved through an open business model. Third, in general, R&D intensity, firm size and the level of IP management affect determination of business model types. The findings also suggest that companies need to increasingly address their external technology exploitation process instead of focusing on their internal innovation processes.

The impact of open innovation on firm performance: The moderating effects of internal R&D and environmental turbulence

Researchers have identified open innovation as two dimensions, external technology acquisition and external technology exploitation. This study explores the direct and interactive effects of these two dimensions on firm performance and further examines the moderation effects of two factors (i.e., internal R&D and environmental turbulence) on the relationship between both types of open innovation and firm performance. Based on Chesbrough's open innovation model, multi-item scales were developed to measure two dimensions of firm-level open innovation. Survey results of 176 Taiwanese high tech manufacturing firms provide support for most hypotheses. The result shows that external technology acquisition positively affects firm performance, whereas external technology exploitation does not. This study also finds that external technology acquisition strengthens the relationship between external technology exploitation and firm performance. Both external technology acquisition and external technology exploitation are positively related to firm performance under high internal R&D investment and a turbulent market environment. However, technological turbulence only positively affects the relationship between external technological acquisition, but not external technology exploitation, and firm performance. The findings contribute to enhanced understanding of how the degree of leveraging open innovation dimensions depends on their complementarity, internal R&D, and environmental turbulence.

Technology Market Intermediaries to Facilitate External Technology Exploitation - The Case of IP Auctions

Recently the phenomena of external technology exploitation (ETE) has started to attract attention from scholars, businesses and politicians likewise alongside with a growth of the markets for technology. However, the markets for technology are still characterized by inhibiting obstacles that lead to high transaction costs, thus prohibit efficient transactions and result in market failure. Although, on the one hand the presence of obstacles lead to high transaction costs, the large market potential on the other hand provides incentives for technology market intermediaries (TMI) to develop new exploitation models to facilitate ETE transactions by reducing transaction costs. Throughout this paper we address the general research question of whether and how new exploitation models can actually facilitate ETE. To address this question, in a first step we generate insights into TMIs acting on the markets for technology and derived a conceptual basis for a further understanding of TMIs. Having carried out a detailed review of the literature, we develop a theory based typology for six TMI archetypes. Throughout this exercise we gain insights into the variety of different functions TMIs have on the markets for technology and various new ways how TMIs try to facilitate ETE transactions. Throughout the second part of this paper, we focus on IP auctions as one particular business model of the archetype ‘IP Broker.’ We investigate this ‘young’ business model presenting first insights into two qualitative studies. In a first step we derive a generic IP auction process based on a qualitative, empirical analysis of IP auction processes. We then translate these results into a theory based process view and derive a generic IP auction process as a specific type of an ETE process. Having thus generated a close understanding of the transaction process, we presented results from four cases of successful transactions, i.e. where patents were sold for particular high prices from two SMEs and two MNCs. The case studies are analyzed according to four main aspects including characteristics of the companies that exploited patented technologies (including motives and selection processes), the patented technology as such, the organization of the transaction and the companies’ perceptions regarding the success of the transactions.

Identifying Technology Commercialization Opportunities: The Importance of Integrating Product Development Knowledge

New product development (NPD) is a knowledge‐intensive activity, perhaps even more so in recent years given the shift toward more open innovation processes, which involve active inward and outward technology transfer. While the extant literature has established that knowledge is critical for NPD performance, knowledge generated through NPD can have an additional impact on external technology exploitation—as when firms go beyond pure internal application of knowledge to commercialize their technologies, for example, by means of technology outlicensing.Grounded in the knowledge‐based view of the firm, this paper examines how the integration of domain‐specific knowledge, procedural knowledge, and general knowledge generated through NPD affects a firm's proficiency in identifying technology commercialization opportunities. Additionally, analysis of how technology opportunity identification relates to technology commercialization performance is provided. Empirically, the paper draws on survey data from 193 Swedish medium‐sized manufacturing firms in four industries active with NPD, and regression analyses and structural equation modeling were used to test the hypotheses.The results highlight the importance of integrating domain‐specific and general NPD knowledge to proficiently identify technology licensing opportunities. The empirical findings also provide strong support for a subsequent link between technology opportunity identification and technology commercialization performance. Altogether, these results point to strong and previously unexplored complementarities between inward and outward technology exploitation, that is, between NPD and technology licensing. As such, the results provide important theoretical implications for research into the fields of knowledge integration, technology exploitation, opportunity identification, and technology markets.Moreover, the results have significant managerial implications concerning how knowledge generated through NPD can help firms to achieve both strategic and monetary benefits when trying to profit from technology. In particular, to set up proficient technology commercialization processes, it appears beneficial for firms to integrate knowledge that is gained through the ordinary activities of developing and commercializing products. Specifically, the integration of domain‐specific knowledge and general knowledge helps firms to match their technologies with new applications and markets, which is often the critical barrier to successful technology commercialization activities. Managers are thus encouraged to integrate domain‐specific knowledge and general knowledge from NPD to reap additional benefits in profiting from investments in innovation and technology.

Outward direct investment versus technology licensing: an SME perspective

Based on the example of the evolution and internationalization of a Hungarian wastewater treatment company, this paper investigates various theoretical and strategic management issues. As for thetheoretical part, Hungary’s outward direct investment performance is analyzed departing from the thesis that Hungary’s present seemingly favorable OFDI performance is just a statistical artifact. It isonly organic development, based on local entrepreneurs’ capital export that can substantiate Hungary’s present OFDI position. The strategic management issues analyzed in the paper include the sequencing of internationalization; the pitfalls related to growth; modes of foreign market entry; and the choice between FDI-based internal exploitation of technological knowledge and external technology exploitation in the form of technology licensing.
 JEL codes: F23, L24, L26, O16, O33, Q57

Open Innovation and the Stage-Gate Process: A Revised Model for New Product Development

This article explores how firms can benefit from opening up the new product development process by integrating the principles of open innovation with the Stage-Gate process. It examines the potential opportunities of employing the principles of both inbound and outbound open innovation within new product development at a firm in the upstream oil & gas industry. A practitioner-oriented work model, named the open Stage-Gate model, can exploit the advantages of “openness. “This model allows explicit consideration of import and export of know-how and technology through gate evaluations and also enables firms to continuously assess their core capabilities and business model. The application of this model can assist firms in capturing value from both internal and external technology exploitation in increasingly open innovation processes.

Opening the fuzzy front-end of new product development: a synthesis of two theories

Product development processes have been studied since the 80s and nearing 90s, academic attention turned to early phases of development, i.e., fuzzy front-end (FFE). Activities at the FFE are often chaotic and experimental with rather unpredictable or uncertain commercialisation future. Opportunities are raising, but a firm still cannot do all needed development and commercialisation actions for all potential technologies in-house. The theory of open innovation (OI) has tackled some of the emerged dilemmas by opening the borders of the company for knowledge and technology exchange. One of the fundamental notions therein is that technologies of little apparent value to your business may be highly valued outside your company. In our paper, OI and FFE theories are merged to introduce an open new concept development framework, leading to new discoveries in the relation between FFE and external technology exploitation. The framework helps organisations to improve their product development profitability by coping with in- and out-flows of technology.

Organizing for external technology exploitation in diversified firms

Besides applying technology in their own products, industrial firms increasingly exploit their technologies externally, for example through out-licensing. Earlier studies cannot explain the discrepancies between a few pioneering firms in active technology licensing and the managerial difficulties of many others. In diversified firms, diverging interests of the corporate and business unit level in the keep-or-sell decision constitute a central barrier to active licensing. Therefore, this article examines two essential dimensions of designing the corporate/business unit interface in diversified firms: the centralization of the activities on the corporate level and the alignment between the organizational levels. The study tests three hypotheses regarding the interaction and consequences of these organizational dimensions with data from 152 firms. Consistent with the hypotheses, the data provide support for the benefits from medium levels of corporate centralization and corporate/business unit alignment. The results have implications for technology exploitation, open innovation, markets for technology, and corporate strategy.

RETRACTED: Product business, foreign direct investment, and licensing: Examining their relationships in international technology exploitation

In the past, most industrial firms focused on internally exploiting technological knowledge in their own products. By contrast, external technology exploitation through out-licensing was primarily an entry mode into foreign markets or into product markets for which a firm had limited complementary assets. Outward technology transfer was mainly regarded as a substitute for foreign direct investment and for a firm's internal product business. The recent trend towards active licensing questions this traditional role of international licensing. To overcome the focus on market entry in prior research, we analyze the motives for technology licensing. On this basis, we use data from 152 firms to test six hypotheses relating product diversification, technological diversification, and foreign direct investment to the extent of technology out-licensing, considering technological turbulence as a moderator. The results provide support for a capability-based understanding of technology licensing, and they may lead us to fundamentally rethink traditional assumptions on the relation between product marketing, foreign direct investment, and licensing.

Opening up the innovation process: the role of technology aggressiveness

Besides acquiring external knowledge, many firms have begun to actively commercialize technology, for example, by means of out‐licensing. This increase in inward and outward technology transactions reflects the new paradigm of open innovation. Most prior research into open innovation is limited to theoretical considerations and case studies, whereas other lines of research have focused either on external technology acquisition or exploitation. In an integrative view, we consider inward and outward technology transactions as the main directions of open innovation. Moreover, technology aggressiveness, which constitutes an important dimension of technology strategy, is identified as a major determinant of open innovation. Data from a survey of 154 industrial firms are used to test three hypotheses relating technology aggressiveness, external technology acquisition, and external technology exploitation. In addition, clusters of firms with homogeneous strategies regarding technology aggressiveness and open innovation are identified.

External technology commercialisation projects: objectives, processes and a typology

Firms increasingly consider external technology commercialisation (ETC) – the commercialisation of technology assets – as an important part of their strategies. ETC goes beyond the marginal activity of commercialising residual technologies, yet prior research has not systematically analysed its monetary and strategic benefits, nor has much been published about the process of managing ETC. Accordingly this paper offers a classification of ETC objectives based on case studies of 25 technology-oriented companies. A detailed segmentation of the process of managing these projects is established by focussing on large industrial companies whose main business is internal technology exploitation (i.e. the application of technologies in their own products and/or services). Based on these classifications, four types of external technology exploitation projects are identified and the different managerial challenges are described along the process segmentation.

Integrated Roadmaps for Open Innovation

OVERVIEW:In the context of open innovation, firms increasingly acquire technologies from external sources. Moreover, many firms have recently started to actively commercialize technologies, for example, by means of outlicensing. While some pioneering firms realize enormous benefits from this, many others experience major difficulties in managing external technology exploitation. To overcome these challenges, firms need to establish appropriate strategic technology-planning processes. Such processes include the extension of product-technology roadmapping to integrated roadmaps for open innovation processes, including external technology exploitation. This has a number of implications for technology managers, including the need to consider potential returns from a technology as a whole rather than from product sales alone.

Leveraging technology assets in the presence of markets for knowledge

In the past, most industrial firms focused on applying technological knowledge in their own products and services. Recently, however, many firms have started to actively commercialize technology assets, e.g., by means of out-licensing. This outward technology transfer reflects the trend towards open innovation. It may include all technology assets and goes far beyond a marginal activity of commercializing residual technologies. Due to the substantial risks of commercializing technological knowledge, it is critical to develop a detailed understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of external technology exploitation. Based on a thorough analysis of the literature, this article shows that strategic motives affect licensing decisions in addition to monetary considerations. Often, technologies are simultaneously applied inside the firm and transferred across firm boundaries. Accordingly, companies have to develop integrated strategies that facilitate ‘keep-and-sell’ approaches to technology exploitation. Instead of focusing on transaction costs in the markets for knowledge, firms need to develop internal capabilities of externally leveraging technological knowledge. By helping firms realize the opportunities while minimizing the downsides of commercializing technology assets, these dynamic capabilities may constitute an important source of competitive advantage. They allow firms to capture value from their technology assets in the presence of markets for knowledge.

Opening up strategic technology planning: extended roadmaps and functional markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to help firms establish successful technology planning processes in the context of open innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Although some pioneering firms realise enormous benefits from outward technology transfer, many others experience major difficulties in managing external technology exploitation. To overcome these managerial challenges, firms need to establish strategic technology planning processes, which takes into account the increasing importance of external technology commercialisation. Therefore, this paper conceptually explores strategic technology planning in open innovation systems.Findings – After detailing the characteristics of external technology exploitation, two instruments that may help firms incorporate external technology exploitation in strategic technology planning are developed. First, the concept of product‐technology roadmaps is extended to include external technology exploitation. Second, the functional market concept is transferred ...

Open Innovation in Practice: An Analysis of Strategic Approaches to Technology Transactions

In addition to acquiring external technology, firms have started to actively commercialize technological knowledge, which represents the opposite type of technology transactions. The strong interactions with a firm's environment contrast the traditional closed approaches to innovation. Therefore, this new paradigm has been termed open innovation. Prior research into this field has mostly been limited to theoretical considerations and case studies. More general work has usually focused either on external technology acquisition or on external technology exploitation. Accordingly, I take an integrated perspective and regard the two types of technology transactions as the main dimensions of a firm's strategic approach to open innovation. Drawing on these dimensions, I use data from a questionnaire-based study of 154 middle and large companies to identify groups of firms that pursue homogeneous strategies regarding open innovation. Accordingly, this analysis is the first large-scale study that describes the current state of open innovation in practice. Moreover, it is the first work that identifies strategic approaches of firms to technology transactions along the innovation process.

Open innovation and the importance of actively managing outward technology transfer

Besides absorbing external technology, open innovation involves the commercialisation of technology assets. External technology exploitation refers to the outward transfer of technologies exclusively or in addition to their application in a firm's own products, especially out-licensing transactions. Despite the enormous benefits of some pioneering firms, most companies experience strong managerial difficulties in externally leveraging technology. Because of the considerable opportunities and risks of technology licensing, a firm's strategy plays a critical role in achieving the benefits of outward technology transfer. After detailing the theoretical perspective of external technology exploitation, the paper explores major characteristics of the strategic approach of firms. The conceptual analysis suggests that, beyond an open approach to technology exploitation, the actual driver of technology licensing is the degree of actively commercialising technology assets. Firms that are open to licensing technology without actively initiating technology transactions are not able to fully realise the opportunities in the markets for technology. The study's implications for research and practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.