innovation management
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Innovation Management. Kevin O’Brien. Open Innovation & Technology Transfer. Learning Objectives. Recognise the importance of technology transfer to innovation management Be able to summarise the technology/knowledge transfer process - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Open Innovation & Technology Transfer
Innovation Management
Kevin O’Brien
Learning Objectives
Recognise the importance of technology transfer to innovation management
Be able to summarise the technology/knowledge transfer process
Explain why a ‘receptive’ environment is necessary for technology transfer
Understand the role of tacit knowledge in technology transfer
Identify barriers to technology transfer
Introducing technology transfer
Much written about the subject; became extremely popular in the late 1980's.
Governments believed it could solve problems of national budget deficits! Collaboration on technology development
encouraged. Large companies established Technology Transfer
units. Universities also established Industrial Liaison
units and Technology Transfer units. The panacea for industry's problems did not
materialise.
Economics of technology transfer
Existing R&D projects and developed technology Transfer to industry and
private enterprise
it has already been paid for!
The attraction of technology transfer was that companies and industry could benefit from technology that had already been paid for.
‘Technology Transfer is the application of technology to a new use or user. It is the process by which technology developed for one purpose is employed either in a different application or by a new user. The activity principally involves the increased utilisation of the existing science/technology base in new areas of application as opposed to its expansion by means of further research and development’ (Langrish et al., 1982).
Definition of technology transfer
DTI Knowledge Transfer Partnership
University FirmStudent
Iracroft Ltd£10,000,000 companyIts main customer is JCB80% of its business is JCB
What to do?Diversify?What to make?What new products services to offer?
Science Parks
A Science Park is a business support and technology transfer initiative that:
Supports the development of links to strengthen technology transfer to help the growth of business enterprise
Promotes initiatives of value to the Science Park tenants
Facilitates the interchange of concepts, ideas and experiences
Provides a forum for developing collaborative initiatives
First established in 1970 (Cambridge)
Now approximately 100 parks across the UK
(Source: UK Science Park Association)
Technology Brokering at IDEO
Solutions toclient’sDesign
problems
Existing technologies(40 industries)
Original combinations of existing knowledge
Open Innovation
Co-operative R&D projects reached a new peak in the 1990s
New emphasis on opening firm boundaries to outside innovation
Inbound open innovation Leverage discoveries of others Don’t rely exclusively on own R&D
Outbound open innovation Look for external organisations
better suited to commercialise a given technology
(Chesbrough, 2003)
Open Innovation
ResearchProjects
Research Development
The Market
Boundary of the firm
The closed innovation model
Research Development
Current Market
ResearchProjects
Boundary of the firm
The open innovation model
NewMarket
(Chesbrough, 2003)
Open Innovation
Philips’ High-technology campus in Eindhoven•open innovation ‘ecosystem’•40 companies & institutes•50 nationalities, 7,000-8,000 people•€ 500 million investment by Philips
Tangibility of Knowledge
Relevance to the firm
Inta
ngib
ility
Projects & activities of the organisation
KnowledgeKnow-how Action
Information
Data
(Adapted from Cooley, 1987)
Limitations of Models
They fail to understand the recipient organisation's needs
Technology viewed in terms of technical attributes Underestimate the extent of interaction required Assume an ability on the part of organisations to
communicate their problem in the form of a technical requirement
Accessibility Mobility Receptivity
Too much emphasis here
Need greater emphasis here
Absorptive Capacity
The ability to evaluate and utilise outside knowledge is largely a function of the level of prior related knowledge
Prior knowledge includes basic skills, shared language, knowledge of recent scientific or technological developments in the field
Prior related knowledge confers the ability to recognise the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends
These abilities collectively constitute ‘absorptive capacity’
(Cohen & Levinthal, 1990)
Receptivity
Accessibility Mobility Receptivity
AssimilationAwareness Association Application
(Trott & Cordey-Hayes, 1996)
Receptivity
Activity Process
Awareness Processes by which an organisation scans for and discovers what information on technology is available
Association Processes by which an organisation recognises the value of this technology (ideas) for the organisation
Assimilation Processes by which the organisation communicates these ideas within the organisation and creates genuine business opportunities
Application Processes by which the organisation applies this technology for competitive advantage
(Trott & Cordey-Hayes, 1996)
Organisational LearningAcquisition of technology
from outside
Skills
Routines
Embedded in the organisation as capabilities
Level of learning
Individual
Group
Organisation
Continual flow of tacit and explicit
knowledge
Continual flow of tacit and explicit
knowledge
Continual flow of tacit and explicit
knowledge
References
Chesbrough, H.W. (2003) The era of open innovation, MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(3), 35-41.
Chesbrough, H.W. (2003) Open Innovation – The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, Boston: HBSP.
Cohen, W.M. & Levinthal, D.A. (1990) Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 128-152.
Cooley, M. (1987) Architect or bee? The Human Price of Technology, London: Hogarth Press.
Langrish, J., Evans, W.G. & Jerans, F.R. (1982) Wealth from Knowledge, London: Macmillan.
Trott, P. & Cordey-Hayes, M. (1996) Developing a ‘receptive’ environment for inward technology transfer: a case study of the chemical industry, R&D Management, 26(1), 83-92.