Fred Pries

Commercial exploitation of new technologies arising from university research: start-ups and markets for technology

The creation of start-up firms is an important method of commercializing new technologies arising from R&D at universities and other research institutions. Most research into start-ups presumes that these firms develop products or services. However, start-ups may operate through markets for technology by selling or licensing rights to use their technology to other firms typically established firms who develop and sell new products or services based on the technology. In this study of 57 public start-up firms created to commercialize the results of university research, we find evidence that (1) operating through markets for technology is a common approach to commercialization, (2) start-ups that operate in markets for technology can be effectively distinguished in practice from start-ups operating through product markets, and (3) there are substantive differences in the business activities of firms depending on whether they operate through product markets or markets for technology.

Build, rent or sell: options for commercializing new technologies arising from university research

The methods available to commercialize new technologies arising from university research have traditionally been thought of as licensing and start-ups. Drawing on economic theories of the firm and on accounting and legal concepts, we propose an alternative view of the options for commercialization that focuses on the substance of the available methods rather than their legal form. Specifically, we suggest that there are three primary methods of commercializing new technologies arising from university research: 1) Build – creating a new business based on the technology, 2) Rent – ongoing development and marketing of the technology to established firms that use the technology in their businesses and 3) Sell – disposition of the technology to an established firm. We provide examples of each of these methods and provide criteria for distinguishing between them. Finally, we attempt to demonstrate the usefulness of this new scheme by reframing existing research to identify a number of unexplored areas and areas of inconsistent findings and by developing a set of testable propositions related to the proposed scheme.

Greening Manufacturing Supply Chains – Introducing Bio-based Products into Manufacturing Supply Chains

Launching a new technology involves more than innovation within an organization. It often requires innovations in downstream firms adopting the technology and greater interaction and knowledge exchange among supply chain partners. This paper examines the introduction of new bio-based products into existing supply chains, the location of the innovations needed to successfully commercialize the product, the nature of relationships among chain members and the impact of modularization on bio-based product introductions.