Paola Criscuolo

ROLE OF HOME AND HOST COUNTRY INNOVATION SYSTEMS IN R&D INTERNATIONALISATION: A PATENT CITATION ANALYSIS

This paper has three novelties. First, we argue that any given R&D facility’s capacity to exploit and/or augment technological competences is a function not just of its own resources, but the efficiency with which it can utilise complementary resources associated with the relevant local innovation system. Just as asset-augmenting activities require proximity to the economic units (and thus the innovation system) from which they seek to learn, asset-exploiting activities draw from the parent’s technological resources as well as from the other assets of the home location’s innovation system. Furthermore, we argue that most firms tend to undertake both asset exploiting and augmenting activities simultaneously. Second, we use patent citation data from the European Patent Office to quantify the relative asset augmenting vs. exploiting character of foreign-located R&D. Third, we do so for European MNEs located in the US, as well as US MNEs located in Europe. Our results indicate that both EU (US) affiliates in the US (EU) rely extensively on home region knowledge sources, although they appear to exploit the host country knowledge base as well.

Coping with open innovation: : responding to the challenges of external engagement in R&D

Open innovation often requires wholesale changes to the nature of R&D. However, academic research and managerial practice have paid little attention to the challenges that individuals face in the daily pursuit of open innovation. As a result, there is little understanding of how individuals cope with open innovation, and which organizational practices can support them in this role. Drawing on the experiences of R&D professionals, this article identifies four specific challenges and coping strategies of individuals engaged in open innovation. It proposes a range of open innovation practices that organizations can implement to better equip their staff to undertake effective external engagement.

The knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups: what do patent citations to non-patent literature reveal?

This article examines the knowledge bases of the world’s largest pharmaceutical groups by sales. It builds upon the concepts of knowledge specialisation and knowledge integration as the relevant dimensions along which knowledge bases can be mapped. The former is studied developing indicators of breadth. Breadth is measured by analysing the evolution of specialisation by scientific field over time. It hints at the widening range of bodies of scientific and technological knowledge relevant to firms’ innovative activities. Knowledge integration is studied developing indicators of depth. Depth is measured by analysing the evolution of integration across different typologies of research. It hints at the complex, non-linear interdependencies that link the scientific and technological domains. We develop the analysis on the strength of an original database of 33,127 European Patent Office patents and 41,931 citations to ‘non-patent document’ (of which 19,494 were identified as scientific articles included in the ISI databases) of the 30 largest pharmaceuticals groups during the period 1990–1997. The groups studied seem to have incrementally increased the breadth of their knowledge bases, moving towards the fields proper to the new biopharmaceutical research trajectory. At the same time, some of the groups studied exhibit remarkable depth in knowledge integration in particular fields such as biotechnology, biochemical research and neurosciences.

No Soliciting: Strategies for Managing Unsolicited Innovative Ideas

Unsolicited ideas, the non-contractual and voluntary submission of innovation-related information from external sources to the firm, hold the promise of becoming an almost costless and limitless font for firms’ innovative efforts. In contrast, in this paper, we analyze the difficulties associated with unsolicited ideas processes to understand the problems that firms intending to engage in this form of open and distributed innovation are facing. In particular, we look at the costs that arise from the managerial attention unsolicited ideas require, and the legal setting the process is embedded in. We do so using a series of exploratory interviews, an in-depth case study, and a web-based analysis of the current management practices used by the world’s 150 largest firms. Highlighting quality, quantity, and Intellectual Property issues as the key concerns, we uncover that firms use distinct strategies, which we label signaling, structuring, and selecting, to increase the efficiency and efficacy of the unsolicited ideas process. We discuss the implication of our findings for theories of open and distributed innovation and for management practice.NOTE: Please note that the published version has been substantially extended beyond this draft. Please see Alexy, O., Criscuolo, P., & Ammon, S. 2012. Managing unsolicited ideas for R&D. California Management Review, 54(3): 116-139.

Winning Combinations: Search Strategies and Innovativeness in the UK

Abstract Searching for the most rewarding sources of innovative ideas remains a key challenge in management of technological innovation. Yet, little is known about which combinations of internal and external knowledge sources are triggers for innovation. Extending theories about searching for innovation, we examine the effectiveness of different combinations of knowledge sources for achieving innovative performance. We suggest that combinations involving integrative search strategies – combining internal and external knowledge – are the most likely to generate product and process innovation. In this context, we present the idea that cognitively distant knowledge sources are helpful for innovation only when used in conjunction with knowledge sources that are closer to the focal firm. We also find important differences between product and process innovation, with the former associated with broader searches than the latter. Using a large-scale pooled sample of UK firms, we find overall support for our conjectures, particularly in terms of product innovation.

Attention allocation and online knowledge sharing within organizations

Why do individuals allocate attention to specific problems in organizations? Viewing attention allocation as a matching process between knowledge providers and problems, we examine knowledge sharin...

The Chosen Ones:The selection of capabilities in professional service firms

How do organizations select between different capabilities and what factors lead organizations to break away from their past investments? Using a micro-foundations approach to understand capability emergence, this paper suggests that organizations’ display a strong ‘preference-for-cumulativeness’ in the selection of capabilities and that this preference is present at both the knowledge domain and individual level. It then argues that both endorsements by senior leaders and external collaboration may enable organizations to deviate from the ‘preference-for-cumulativeness’. These ideas are tested on a unique, multi-source dataset of R&D projects selection in a leading professional service firm. Implications for theories of capabilities are advanced.

Going Off-Piste: The Role of Status in Launching Unsponsored R&D Projects

Many established organizations rely on unsponsored R&D projects to sustain and support corporate renewal. These ideas that emerge from dark corners of the organization are often the result of inven...