Ulrich Lichtenthaler

A Capability-Based Framework for Open Innovation: Complementing Absorptive Capacity

We merge research into knowledge management, absorptive capacity, and dynamic capabilities to arrive at an integrative perspective, which considers knowledge exploration, retention, and exploitation inside and outside a firms boundaries. By complementing the concept of absorptive capacity, we advance towards a capability-based framework for open innovation processes. We identify the following six ‘knowledge capacities’ as a firms critical capabilities of managing internal and external knowledge in open innovation processes: inventive, absorptive, transformative, connective, innovative, and desorptive capacity. ‘Knowledge management capacity’ is a dynamic capability, which reconfigures and realigns the knowledge capacities. It refers to a firms ability to successfully manage its knowledge base over time. The concept may be regarded as a framework for open innovation, as a complement to absorptive capacity, and as a move towards understanding dynamic capabilities for managing knowledge. On this basis, it contributes to explaining interfirm heterogeneity in knowledge and alliance strategies, organizational boundaries, and innovation performance.

Outbound Open Innovation and its Effect on Firm Performance: Examining Environmental Influences

Firms may open up their innovation processes on two dimensions. While inbound open innovation refers to the acquisition of external technology in open exploration processes, outbound open innovation describes the outward transfer of technology in open exploitation processes. Prior open innovation research has focused on the inbound dimension, whereas the outbound dimension has been relatively neglected. Therefore, this article addresses the relationship between outbound open R&D strategies and firm performance. We use data from 136 industrial firms to test four hypotheses on the moderating effects of environmental factors in the relationship between open innovation strategies and firm performance. The results show that the degree of technological turbulence, the transaction rate in technology markets, and the competitive intensity in technology markets strengthen the positive effects of outbound open innovation on firm performance. By contrast, the degree of patent protection does not facilitate successful open innovation. The results are crucially important to managers because they show under what environmental conditions open innovation strategies enhance performance.

The Drivers of Technology Licensing: An Industry Comparison

In the past, most industrial firms focused on applying technology assets in their own products and services. Along with the trend towards open innovation, however, many firms have recently started to actively license out technology. These firms consider technology licensing a strategic activity, which may include all technology assets and which goes far beyond a marginal activity of commercializing residual technologies. The research collected for this articles shows that the strategic drivers of technology licensing are often more important than generating licensing revenues. The strategic drivers strengthen the interdependences between internally and externally commercializing technology. Product marketing and licensing are complements rather than substitutes in technology exploitation.

Innovation Intermediaries: Why Internet Marketplaces for Technology Have Not Yet Met the Expectations

A few years ago, internet marketplaces for technology, e.g., yet2.com, received great attention. In the light of open innovation processes, it was assumed that they could be an appropriate means to overcome the imperfections in the markets for technology. Little is known about the performance of these innovation intermediaries, and very limited information is provided by the firms that run the marketplaces. Therefore, we have interviewed intellectual property and technology managers in 25 medium-sized and large industrial companies, who represent the potential licensees and licensors in the internet exchanges. The results show relatively limited success rates of internet marketplaces regarding the number of technology transactions that have been initiated, particularly in comparison with the hopes that had initially been placed in these tools. Moreover, important problems and recent trends in these web-enabled exchanges are identified, and propositions are developed regarding major consequences for initiating and managing technology transactions.

Intermediary Services in the Markets for Technology: Organizational Antecedents and Performance Consequences:

The external commercialization of technology assets, e.g. by means of out-licensing, has recently gained in importance. Despite this increase in technology transactions, many industrial firms experience major managerial difficulties in outward technology transfer because of imperfections in the markets for technology. Drawing on a resource-based perspective, we therefore analyse whether firms can overcome market inefficiencies by relying on innovation intermediaries such as consulting companies and internet platforms. We test five hypotheses regarding organizational antecedents and performance consequences of intermediary services with data from 152 firms spanning multiple industries. The empirical findings show that industrial firms need to develop internal competencies of externally leveraging technology. External service providers are a complement rather than a substitute for internal activities. Accordingly, the role of technology intermediaries as general facilitators of interorganizational technology transactions has to be questioned. On this basis, the study has major implications for research into intermediaries, technology exploitation, licensing, open innovation and organizational boundaries.

Not-Sold-Here: How Attitudes Influence External Knowledge Exploitation

Employee attitudes with regard to the usefulness of external knowledge may influence a firms extent of inter-organizational knowledge transactions. Prior research has focused on “not-invented-here (NIH)” tendencies, which refer to negative attitudes in organizations toward the acquisition of knowledge from external sources. In this research, we develop the concept of “not-sold-here (NSH)” tendencies, which result from protective attitudes in firms toward the external exploitation of knowledge, for example, technology licensing. We show conceptually how NSH tendencies develop and how they can influence the extent of outward knowledge transfer. We test five hypotheses regarding antecedents and consequences of NSH tendencies with data from 152 firms spanning multiple industries. The empirical findings show that NSH tendencies exist in organizations and that they constitute a major barrier to the implementation of external knowledge commercialization strategies. The concept of NSH therefore helps explain the varying degrees of activity in external knowledge exploitation, and it contributes to understanding particular microfoundations of dynamic capabilities.

Opening up strategic technology planning: extended roadmaps and functional markets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to help firms establish successful technology planning processes in the context of open innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Although some pioneering firms realise enormous benefits from outward technology transfer, many others experience major difficulties in managing external technology exploitation. To overcome these managerial challenges, firms need to establish strategic technology planning processes, which takes into account the increasing importance of external technology commercialisation. Therefore, this paper conceptually explores strategic technology planning in open innovation systems.Findings – After detailing the characteristics of external technology exploitation, two instruments that may help firms incorporate external technology exploitation in strategic technology planning are developed. First, the concept of product‐technology roadmaps is extended to include external technology exploitation. Second, the functional market concept is transferred ...

Intellectual property and open innovation: an empirical analysis

The recent growth in inward and outward technology transfer, e.g., by means of technology licensing, reflects the new paradigm of open innovation. By actively acquiring and commercialising intellectual property in the technology markets, these open innovation processes contrast traditional closed innovation processes. Prior open innovation research has largely been limited to case studies and theoretical contributions, and other lines of research have focused either on inward or outward technology transfer without taking an integrative perspective. Therefore, I simultaneously consider inward and outward technology transfer as the two main directions of open innovation. On this basis, data from a survey of 154 industrial firms are used to test four hypotheses relating the size and quality of the corporate patent portfolio to a firm’s extent of external technology acquisition and external technology commercialisation. The results show that the corporate intellectual property portfolio constitutes a major determinant of opening up the innovation process.

Hierarchical strategies and strategic fit in the keep‐or‐sell decision

Purpose – Besides applying knowledge in own products and services, firms increasingly exploit their knowledge assets externally, e.g. by means of licensing out technology. The aim of this paper is to help firms achieve strategic fit in the keep‐or‐sell issue, which results from potential external knowledge exploitation.Design/methodology/approach – The keep‐or‐sell decision refers to the issue whether to commercialize knowledge assets externally in addition to exploiting them inside the organization. Because of the high opportunities and risks of externally leveraging knowledge, the keep‐or‐sell decision constitutes a major area of conflict between strategies at different levels, particularly knowledge vs product strategies, corporate vs business unit strategies and R&D vs marketing strategies. After detailing the keep‐or‐sell decision, the paper conceptually explores how firms may respond to potential conflicts in the keep‐or‐sell decision by achieving strategic fit.Findings – The paper identifies, in pa...

RETRACTION NOTICE: Technology licensing strategies: the interaction of process and content characteristics

The article ‘Technology licensing strategies: the interaction of process and content characteristics’ by Ulrich Lichtenthaler and Holger Ernst, published in STRATEGIC ORGANIZATION Vol 7(2): 183–221, DOI: 10.1177/1476127009102672, has been retracted at the author’s and editors’ request due to errors in reporting, for which the first author has claimed responsibility.