Paul Guild

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.

Making University Departments More Entrepreneurial: The Perspective from Within

The concept of an ‘entrepreneurial orientation’ is well established in the literature on the strategic posture of firms. Increasingly, large public and non-profit organizations are also turning to entrepreneurship in their efforts to become flexible and respond to pressures to ‘do more with less’. Government rhetoric encourages universities in particular to become more entrepreneurial, increasing the commercialization of research and contributing to economic growth. To understand what it means for university departments to be ‘entrepreneurial’, interviews with 40 faculty members explore the issue. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using content-analysis software. The results suggest that risk taking is the most important dimension in developing an entrepreneurial university, and may be a prerequisite for commercialization.

Nanotechnology: Canada’s position in scientific publications and patents

Nanotechnology has been one of the main rapidly emerging technologies over the last two decades. There have been local and global scale studies which address the progress taken by this uniquely interdisciplinary field of science and which try to develop a foresight on its future applications. This paper constitutes a part of the initial phase of a comprehensive research project which aims at drawing a thorough picture of nanotechnology efforts in Canada along with foresights on its future economical impacts. This particular study presents an overview of the current situation in Canada in terms of nanotechnology based on published scientific literature and official reports. Main focus is given to bibliographic metrics such as scientific publications and patents related to nanotechnology in order to produce a characteristic of Canadas present global position.

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.

Using Expert Knowledge to Envision Future Converging Technologies

Normally, the difficulty of describing expert knowledge about a potential converging technology is its tacit or hidden nature. In other words, such knowledge is typically part of the intuition of an expert on different technologies that could merge form a new one. It is therefore, difficult to portray since, even though it resides within the person itself, it is not always formalised. However, such internal thoughts are typically revealed as probes that can be further developed. That is, it is sometimes communicated as hints into what could be the next generation of technologies almost as a fantasy out of the experts imagination. This also applies to nascent technologies. In this case, we are after experts intuitions. Again, it is not always easy for experts to reveal with all clarity what are their visions because such needs reside, typically, well within themselves. This article describes a study of a group of experts and key players from different areas interviewed using the repertory grid technique. The collected information will help as a first step within the research process in this area to the generation of hypotheses that can be tested in future research. With this research it is expected to advance knowledge in the area of new converging technologies and at the same time improve our understanding of which technologies will more likely take place in the market in the future.

Firm Perceptions Of Competitive Advantage Of New University Technology And Their Impact On Exclusivity Of Licensing Transactions

Commercialization of new university technology within the new product development process is an important tool by which established firms can expand their innovative capabilities. The competitive advantage afforded by new university technologies, however, varies considerably. An exclusivity agreement is a useful tool to protect the firms investment and help ensure that value is appropriated through the commercialization process. An empirical study of 66 technology transfer projects in the information and communications technology industry reveals that when the firms perception of competitive advantage afforded by the new technology is high, the licensing transaction is usually secured by some form of exclusivity agreement.

Exploiting new university technologies in product innovation: an empirical of the information and communications technology industry of Canada

Universities are important sources of new technological knowledge for firms. This study examines cases of new university technology used specifically in new product innovation. Survey data was collected on 66 new product development projects within 52 established companies involving new technology from 26 universities. The companies were sampled from the information and communications technology sector in Canada. A key objective was to understand strategic importance of the new university technology to the firms. This paper presents the rich descriptive data that was obtained from the research model testing to be done at a later date. Data is presented for four main areas: general project information; product and market characteristics; technology transfer issues; and technological/strategic fit. Evidence suggests that new university technology is an importance strategic resource for product innovation and that the technologies are closely associated with the firms core competencies. The resulting new products appear to be relatively new to the firm and to the marketplace and considerably enhance customer-perceived value. Firms seem to favour relationships with universities that are in close proximity. Exclusivity rights do not appear to be a dominant feature in the firm-university relationships.

Technology-Scanning Capability - A Scale to Measure Firms’ Ability to Sense or Respond to Changing Technology Landscape

A construct called technology-scanning capability has been conceptualized that measures firm’s ability to sense or respond to the changing technology landscape. The second-order reflective construct was found to have four first-order constructs named as TechInfo (i.e., information gathering about ongoing technological development), TechAlign (i.e., aligning future technology development with technology trend in the market and compatible with internal technology assets), TechRespond (i.e., responsiveness to collected technology related information) and TechExploit (i.e., exploitation of existing technology portfolio). The components provide a theoretical understanding useful to the practitioners who want to design the business processes and encourage cultures that facilitate development of stronger technology-scanning capability in their organizations.

Delineation of landscapes of emerging sciences through publication data: A case of nanoscience in Canada

Nanotechnology is one of the rapidly emerging technologies over the past few decades. This paper aims to illustrate a picture of the research and development efforts in nanotechnology in Canada. This study first explains how information technology has been employed in the data collection process for emerging technologies where the clear scope or boundary has not been established, and collects detailed data on journal publications of nanoscience research in Canada from the ISI Web of Science database.

Perceptions of competitive advantage of new university technology and their impact on exclusivity of licensing transactions

Commercialization of new university technology within the new product development process is an important tool by which established firms can expand their innovative capabilities. The strategic importance of the university technology to the firm, however, can vary considerably. An exclusivity agreement is a useful tool to protect the firm’s investment and help ensure that value is appropriated through the commercialization process. An empirical study of 66 technology transfer projects reveals that when firms’ perception of competitive advantage afforded by the new technologies is high, licensing transactions are usually secured by some form of exclusivity agreements.