A. Piccaluga

Exploitation and diffusion of public research: the case of academic spin‐off companies in Italy

Scientific and technological knowledge is considered the most important raw material for economic growth. The attention on the exploitation of public research, undoubtedly one of the main sources of new scientific and technological knowledge, has increased in recent years. After reviewing some concepts regarding the exploitation of public research results, the paper focuses on the analysis of academic spin-off companies as one of the most promising ways to transfer research results to the market place. The phenomenon of academic spin-off companies is described using both international evidence and a recent survey regarding 48 Italian spin-off companies.

Towards the Entrepreneurial University

The article analyses the emergence and evolution of universities towards a more entrepreneurial model. The emergence of such a new entrepreneurial mission, incremental in relation to the more traditional and consolidated ones of education and research, determines the direct involvement of universities in the exploitation of research results, more intense collaborations with industry and involvement in regional economic development. It is argued, nonetheless, that both old and new performance indicators have to be defined in order to monitor both positive and negative consequencies of changes which are taking place in university missions and strategies.

Fiat: Open Innovation in a Downturn (1993–2003)

One of the key elements of Fiat9s recent resurgence is the superiority of its clean, fuel-efficient engine technologies that were mostly developed during the 1990s by Centro Ricerche Fiat (CRF), the Fiat Group company in charge of R&D and technology development. In the early 1990s, when the Italian carmaker was going through troubling times (along with many other players in the automotive industry), CEO Gian Carlo Michellone radically turned around CRF9s organization and innovation strategy, adopting and mastering a strategic approach to innovation that resembles what would become known as the open innovation paradigm. This revolution allowed the Fiat Group to keep its “innovation engine” running, despite the heavy downturn of the industry. The CRF case demonstrates how open innovation can protect the firm9s innovation capability from the risk of severe resource rationalizations during periods of crisis while proffering a starting point to replicate innovation capability once the downturn is over. The efforts to streamline the adoption of open innovation need to be targeted at several aspects of a firm9s organization, i.e. the structures, organizational roles, the planning and control and performance management systems, corporate values, and individual competencies and attitudes. The role played by the senior executive leadership in promoting the successful implementation of open innovation is critical, especially during tough economic times.

Regional Economies as knowledge laboratories

Today, the study of regions is central to academic analysis and policy deliberation on how to respond to the rise of the knowledge economy. Regional Economies as Knowledge Laboratories illustrates how newer types of regional analysis – utilising scientometrics, knowledge services measures and university networks, and concepts such as knowledge life cycles, experimental knowledge creation, and knowledge ethics – are leading to a perception that regional economies increasingly resemble knowledge laboratories.

Universities and intellectual property rights in Southern European countries

Abstract This paper analyses and discusses the patenting activity of Public Research Organizations (PROs) in Southern European countries. Despite the importance of the topic, studies about the European experience are rare. By using an original database of “American” (USPTO) and “European” (EPO) patents held by PROs in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece, we observe that the number of university patents in these countries has not increased dramatically during the last years, despite a growing interest at both European and national level during the same period. However, differences do exist among countries in terms of number of granted patents and regulative frameworks. With regard to PROs patenting strategies, we argue that PROs should be progressively able to adopt a “balanced” approach, in order to achieve co-existence between the traditional mechanisms of the so-called “open research system” and the more recent concerns about intellectual property protection, technology transfer and regional development.

Business model innovation paths

This chapter explains the business model concept and explores the reasons why “innovation” and “innovation in services” are no longer exclusively a technological issue. Rather, we highlight that business models are critical components at the centre of business innovation processes. We also attempt to describe the characteristics of a business model and what a “good model” should achieve. Moreover, we discuss why firms in the service sector too often fail to innovate their business models as required by market situations. In the second part of this chapter, starting with the description of a problem or a new opportunity, we present a framework to help innovation teams develop a structured brainstorming path in order to create a new business model.

Operational challenges and ST's proposed solutions to improve collaboration between IP and R&D in innovation processes.

The implementation of a change in IP strategy represents a challenging task for firms, because organizational resources and capabilities (procedures, routines, and know-how) that are required in the new strategic context may be lacking. This article examines the operational solutions adopted by the semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics to successfully accomplish an IP strategy shift. It shows how the implementation of the new strategic approach required a stricter cross-functional integration between IP and R&D through the arrangement of cross-functional teams, the development of proper IP management procedures, and the diffusion of an IP culture throughout the organization.

La gestione del trasferimento tecnologico

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How family firms execute open innovation strategies: the Loccioni case

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Gli uffici di trasferimento tecnologico delle università italiane: numeri ma non solo numeri

Purpose This paper aims to shed light on how family firms execute open innovation strategies by managing internal and external knowledge flows. Design/methodology/approach First, through a comprehensive literature review, the paper identifies the barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in open innovation processes. Second, it presents and discusses the results of an exploratory case study on Loccioni, an Italian family firm providing high-tech measurement solutions, highlighting how this family firm managed to overcome the barriers in executing an open innovation strategy. Findings The case study shows that Loccioni faced specific challenges in acquiring and transferring knowledge in its open innovation processes and developed two idiosyncratic capabilities – labelled imprinting and fraternization – that helped the firm overcome the barriers to knowledge acquisition and transfer. The analysis shows that these two capabilities are enabled by the distinctive goals and social capital characterizing family firms. Originality/value The paper creates a link between open innovation and family business research with an empirically grounded model illustrating how the idiosyncratic capabilities of a family firm help overcome the critical barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in executing an open innovation strategy.