Jacqueline Senker

Making sense of diversity: public-private sector research linkage in three technologies

There is considerable diversity in the extent and nature of industrys research links with academic and government laboratories. The study reported here sought to understand why companies link up with public sector research (PSR) on some occasions and not others, in order to provide the basis for designing policies to foster public-private research linkage which are effectively targeted. The study focused on three technologies, biotechnology, advanced engineering ceramics and parallel computing, and adopted a rather novel research design which investigates both industry-PSR linkage activity and the knowledge flows or scientific and technological inputs (STI) associated with that activity. Our findings highlight the general importance to innovation of basic research in PSR and of ‘instrumentalities’, also the heavy reliance on informal interaction and the literature to access PSR knowledge. There were cross-technology differences in the extent of formal linkage activity; in the relative significance of STI from PSR; and in the particular knowledge contribution of PSR in each technology. Our analysis suggests a taxonomy of factors, in the industrial sector, PSR, the technology and the firm, which together appear to explain this diversity. It is proposed that both this taxonomy and the ‘STI approach’ could prove useful policy and management tools.

Organizational learning in cooperative alliances: some case studies in biotechnology

Dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs) have played an important role in commercializing biotechnology. They emerged first in the US and, after a 5-year time lag, they also appeared in Europe. Faced with long and costly product lead times, DBFs raised money by entering into research contracts, mainly with large chemical and pharmaceutical companies. These coopertive research alliances have not vanished as biotechnology has matured and are more in evidence today than they were in the early dasy of the commercialization of biotechnology. This paper investigates how and why large and small companies enter research collaborations, what they learn from working together, and the effects on European competitiveness.

National systems of innovation, organizational learning and industrial biotechnology.

Abstract This paper discusses the effects of national systems of innovation on organizational learning by companies, and how this affects industrial structure. The analysis focuses specifically on the industrial response by both large, existing companies and new small firms to the opportunities offered by biotechnology, and how far government policy and other factors have shaped the different patterns of industrial development which have evolved in the US and the UK. Availability of venture capital, investment in the science base and national culture are found to be important factors which explain the different initial patterns of commercialization which emerged in the two countries. Evidence of considerable learning by British organizations leads to the conclusion that, as biotechnology matures, industrial structure in the two countries will converge.

The contribution of tacit knowledge to innovation

Tacit knowledge is widely acknowledged to be an important component of innovation, but such recognition is rarely accompanied by more detailed explanations about the nature of tacit knowledge, why such knowledge is significant, how it becomes codified or whether there may be limits to codification. This paper attempts to fill some of the gaps, drawing on a recent study of university/industry links in three emerging technologies. It concludes that tacit knowledge, which can only be transmitted through personal interaction, will continue to play an important role in innovation. This derives from a variety of reasons, but most significant are the complexity of systems and the emergence of new technologies.

Identifying creative research accomplishments: methodology and results for nanotechnology and human genetics

Motivated by concerns about the organizational and institutional conditions that foster research creativity in science, we focus on how creative research can be defined, operationalized, and empirically identified. A functional typology of research creativity is proposed encompassing theoretical, methodological and empirical developments in science. We then apply this typology through a process of creative research event identification in the fields of nanotechnology and human genetics in Europe and the United States, combining nominations made by several hundred experts with data on prize winners. Characteristics of creative research in the two respective fields are analyzed, and there is a discussion of broader insights offered by our approach.

Changing organisation of public-sector research in Europe — implications for benchmarking human resources in RTD

There have been widespread changes to the organisation and structure of public-sector research (PSR) throughout Europe. The changes appear to have negative consequences for human resources in research and technological development (RTD) but we lack reliable empirical evidence to assess their impact. Four elements of the reorganisation are discussed: the increase in short-term against long-term secure posts; the growth of student numbers; the erosion of PSR autonomy; and the introduction of new management practices. This discussion leads on to identification of the topics which benchmarking should address. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Evaluating the funding of strategic science: Some lessons from British experience

Abstract Considerable emphasis is currently being placed on funding strategic research in universities. This paper presents the background to the development of this policy and then discusses the response of the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC). In particular it focuses on the SERCs Directorate programmes for fostering strategic research, and assesses some outcomes from this approach. An evaluation of the Biotechnology Directorate provides the main basis for the paper, but evaluations of other Directorates are also drawn on. The two central questions discussed are the success of Directorates at building up the science base and their effectiveness at promoting technology transfer to industry. The paper concludes that Directorate programmes have achieved a great measure of success in meeting these objectives, but in so doing has raised further questions, including how large a proportion of funds should be allocated to strategic as opposed to “blue sky” research.

Small high technology firms: some regional implications

Abstract Small high technology firms are often regarded as a vehicle for economic growth. This paper considers theories of small firm innovation and the evidence from sectoral, regional and national case studies. Small innovative firms appear to have some common needs; an environment conducive to entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial and technical ability to translate new technologies into products for which a market exists; pleasant locations where R&D activity is concentrated and where there are clusters of skilled craftsmen and local suppliers of ancillary goods and services. Current policies to stimulate the generation and growth of small high technology firms are evaluated and some alternatives are suggested.

European exploitation of biotechnology—do government policies help?

A recent survey of public spending on biotechnology in Europe suggests that money alone cannot stimulate growth of the sector.

Policy and management issues in company links with academic and government laboratories: A cross-technology study

Abstract This paper discusses the policy and management implications of a recent three technology study of industry linkage with academic and government laboratories, or public sector research (PSR). In particular, it concludes that policies to promote such linkage would be more effective if targeted on areas where PSR can help meet industrys strategic research needs; that informal interaction and reading the literature are more significant than formal collaboration as channels for knowledge to flow from PSR into industry; and that the primary role of PSR in innovation is as a source of trained scientists and engineers and of new knowledge, rather than of commercializable inventions.