Sandrine Wolff

Organisational rules, codification and knowledge creation in inter-organisation cooperative agreements

Abstract The aim of our paper is to analyse the process of collaboration between independent firms linked by a technological agreement in the energy field, with a specific focus on the degree of codification of inter-organisational rules. Considering the agreement as a collection of different types of more or less codified rules, we show that their degree of codification and some other characteristics have an impact on the process of inter-firm cooperation. The paper first provides an analytical framework defining the concept and the types of rules relevant for our purpose. A rule is conceived to solve a problem of allocation or creation of resources; it serves a main function which can be of a cognitive, incentive or coordination nature; it is ambivalent, i.e. it entails side functions in addition to the main one. Two theoretical propositions are then developed and largely confirmed by our empirical research results based on two detailed case studies in the emerging field of fuel cell (FC) technology.

Incentives, coordination and learning in government-sponsored vs. spontaneous inter-firm research cooperation

Our paper is a primary attempt at characterising two types of inter-firm agreements from a micro-analytical perspective: publicly funded collaborations stimulated by research and development government programmes vs. spontaneous, privately funded joint research projects. Using a three-dimensional grid in terms of incentives, coordination and learning, we suggest that the two organisational modes show rather contrasted features: government-sponsored agreements generally concern peripheral activities, submit to predefined coordination rules and favour exploratory, unilateral learning, whereas spontaneous alliances focus on more critical activities, create their own operating rules and may – sometimes – activate an interactive learning which generates valuable, collective, specific assets. These two idealised collaborative patterns also lead to different evolution scenarios, the former being more stable than the latter in the short run, but also less persistent in the long run in case of success. The theoretical propositions are illustrated through two case studies in the emerging, fuel-cell technology.

The ambivalence of the local practices of patenting within the BioValley network

The production of novelty is more and more rooted in collective processes of interactions based on moving, heterogeneous networks involving new biotech firms, public research centers and big pharma companies. Patenting strategies have been investigated in a survey conducted within the BioValley network. While many firms do not consider patents as efficient in terms of protection, and often favor, for that purpose, secrecy, technological advance, trademark or complementary assets, the results imply that firms use patents as strategic tools devoted to different aims. One is to exclude rivals and create income from innovations. Another aim is that patents are seen as coordination tools, involved in the processes of diffusion and collective creation of knowledge, favoring interactions and facilitating the identification of potential partners.

INNOVATION DANS LES TÉLÉCOMMUNICATIONS ET ACCORDS DE COOPÉRATION INTERENTREPRISES

Ľobjet de cet article est ďanalyser ľevolution vers le paradigme des technologies de ľinformation et de la communication ainsi que ses consequences en termes de strategies, en particulier le developpement des accords de cooperation entre les entreprises du secteur des telecommunications. Pour ľanalyse des caracteristiques du paradigme, nous nous appuierons sur les apports recents de ľeconomie des changements technologiques. Dans une seconde etape, les auteurs discutent de la proposition suivante: un accord de cooperation constitue un moyen ďadaptation flexible a une incertitude croissante, et la durabilite ďun accord depend de la recherche ďune forme particuliere de flexibilite: une flexibilite dynamique et pro-active, fondee sur des processus ďapprentissage.The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution towards the new paradigm of information and communication technology (ict) and its consequences in terms of strategies, in particular the development of cooperative agreements between telecommunication firms. To analyse the characteristics ofict paradigm we rely on some recent contributions in economics of technological change. We discuss in a second step the following proposition: an agreement is a flexible means to cope with increasing uncertainties and the durability of an agreement is conditioned by the search for a particular type of flexibility: dynamic and pro-active flexibility based on learning processes.RésuméĽobjet de cet article est ďanalyser ľévolution vers le paradigme des technologies de ľinformation et de la communication ainsi que ses conséquences en termes de stratégies, en particulier le développement des accords de coopération entre les entreprises du secteur des télécommunications. Pour ľanalyse des caractéristiques du paradigme, nous nous appuierons sur les apports récents de ľéconomie des changements technologiques. Dans une seconde étape, les auteurs discutent de la proposition suivante: un accord de coopération constitue un moyen ďadaptation flexible à une incertitude croissante, et la durabilité ďun accord dépend de la recherche ďune forme particulière de flexibilité: une flexibilité dynamique et pro-active, fondée sur des processus ďapprentissage.