Letizia Mortara

Making “Asymmetric” Partnerships Work

OVERVIEW: “Asymmetric” partnerships between technology-based start-ups and large firms represent one route by which an open innovation strategy can be implemented. Asymmetric partnerships can provide benefits to both resource-constrained startups and capability-rich larger firms. However, there are numerous management challenges to the successful setup and management of such partnerships. Valuable management lessons can be learned from the experience of entrepreneurs, managers, investors, and lawyers involved in successful and failed asymmetric partnerships.

Open Innovation: A New Classification and Its Impact on Firm Performance in Innovative SMEs

This paper attempts to deepen understanding of the relationship between open innovation (OI) and firm performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on survey data from 306 Korean innovative SMEs, the results of this study show that: (1) broad and intensive engagement in OI and cooperation with external partners are positively associated with firm performance; (2) technology and market-oriented OI modes (Joint RD and (3) innovative SMEs benefit from working with non-competing partners, such as customers, consultancy/intermediaries and public research institutes. This work has broadened the evidence available on SMEs’ OI adoption and has proposed a new way to study OI adoption and implementation.

Technology Intelligence practice in UK technology-based companies

Technological information has become an increasingly important advantage for technology-based companies facing shorter technology life cycles and a more globally competitive business environment. Companies have dedicated progressively more resources to the development of Technology Intelligence (TI) systems, realising that these are important assets for business success. Reviewing eight intelligence systems implemented by UK technology-based organisations, this work aims to test the theoretical model developed by Kerr et al. (2006) and to investigate how TI systems are implemented in practice. The characteristics, strengths and weaknesses of each system were reviewed using the theoretical model as an analysis template.

Beyond absorptive capacity in open innovation process: the relationships between openness, capacities and firm performance

ABSTRACT The literature has shown that open innovation (OI) can be a winning strategy in improving firm performance. However, in order to adopt and implement it, managers need to resolve practical problems, such as understanding the role played by OI capacities and openness on firm performance. In response to these needs, this study aims to investigate the hierarchical relationships between openness, OI capacities and performance using a structural equation model approach. This paper also attempts to compare the levels of openness between firms in different industries to discover similarities and differences in OI phenomena. The analysis of data obtained from a survey of Korean firms shows significant interrelations between openness, OI capacities and firm performance. Our results go further in developing understanding of the building blocks on which successful OI is built and particularly suggest that desorptive capacity which underpins the out-bound OI process, is in turn strongly supported by knowledge management capacity. It is hoped that the results of this study can enrich our understanding of the OI mechanism and provide managerial and policy implications.

Proposed classification scheme for direct writing technologies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and discuss a definition and a classification scheme for direct writing (DW) technologies.Design/methodology/approach – Both the definition and the classification are developed based on the perspectives of the growing DW community in the UK, through consultation with members, workshops and a survey across the community. In addition, current DW technologies and literature on classification techniques are reviewed.Findings – The classification is structured in order to encompass current technologies, but also to be expandable to accommodate new ones that could be identified in the future as belonging to the DW remit. It is developed considering three dimensions related to DW: “Technology” to encompass all the processes, apparatuses, principles and tools which allow DW manufacturing; “Applications” to consider all the “types of manufactured goods” which could be produced with the DW technologies; and “Materials” which could be employed in DW manufacturing. Th...

A Toolbox of Elements to Build Technology Intelligence Systems

In response to the need to achieve a consistent view on how to organise technology intelligence (TI) activities, a generalised framework to support the creation of TI systems was developed by Kerr et al. [2006]. This paper generalises the structure of TI systems by observing and abstracting from real life examples. As a result, a toolbox of system elements is proposed, which can be used to structure and characterise any TI system. The different choices of system elements can be attributed to the model’s four modes of searching: Mine, Trawl, Target and Scan. With the exception of the Trawl mode which features just connector elements, all the TI modes are supported by management, source connectors, repositories of information and search elements. All these elements can be either people’s roles, activities or characteristics, or physical infrastructure. TI social networks are eminently important elements for any TI system; a reasoned overview on how companies can build their own TI networks is presented.

Developing a Technology Intelligence Strategy at Kodak European Research: Scan & Target

OVERVIEW: Kodak European Research (KER) developed a strategy for technology intelligence based on a theoretical model developed by Kerr et al. (2006). KER scouts designed and implemented a four-step approach to identify relevant technologies and research centers across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The approach provides clear guidance for integrating web searches, scouting trips, networking and interactions with intermediaries. KERs example illustrates how companies can organize themselves to look outside corporate boundaries in search of technologies relevant for their business. The approach may be useful to those in other companies who have been asked to start a technology intelligence activity.

Developing Infrastructure To Support Open Innovation: Case Studies From The East Of England

This paper investigates the role that publicly funded infrastructure can play in supporting the implementation of open innovation at particular locations. Three case studies of open innovation infrastructure projects in the East of England illustrate contrasting approaches to delivering an infrastructure to support open innovation. The paper analyzes the cases using concepts from the literature on open innovation, regional innovation systems and business incubation. The cases reveal insights on how emerging management theories can have direct influence on regional innovation policies, and reveal the complexities of managing changing multi-stakeholder interests in relation to an approach to supporting innovation whose success is inherently hard to measure.

Analysis of document-mining techniques and tools for technology intelligence: discovering knowledge from technical documents

This research proposes a method for extracting technology intelligence (TI) systematically from a large set of document data. To do this, the internal and external sources in the form of documents, which might be valuable for TI, are first identified. Then the existing techniques and software systems applicable to document analysis are examined. Finally, based on the reviews, a document-mining framework designed for TI is suggested and guidelines for software selection are proposed. The research output is expected to support intelligence operatives in finding suitable techniques and software systems for getting value from document-mining and thus facilitate effective knowledge management.

Exploring potential R&D collaboration partners through patent analysis based on bibliographic coupling and latent semantic analysis

The aim of the present research is to provide a new systematic methodology to explore potential Research and Development (R&D) collaboration partners using patent information. The potential R&D collaboration partners are visualised as a patent assignee level map based on technological similarity between patents by using the network analysis. The proposed framework utilises two analytic methods to measure technological similarity. The first method, bibliographic coupling analysis, measures technological similarity based on the citation relationship using patent bibliographic information. Second, latent semantic analysis is utilised based on semantic similarity using patent textual information. The fuel cell membrane electrode assembly technology field is selected and applied to illustrate the proposed methodology. The proposed approach allows firms, universities, research institutes and governments to identify potential R&D collaborators as a systematic decision-making support tool.