Search

We investigate the role of search strategy in shaping firms' innovation performance. Firms use a wide range of external actors and sources to help them achieve and sustain innovation. In particular, the extension (breadth) and the relevance (depth) of such sources determine firms' ability to extract and exploit knowledge and new ideas and, thus, to be innovative. Using a sample of firms in a regional context active in R&D, we built separate measures of breadth and depth for local (on a regional scale) and global (outside the regional context) search. This allows us to investigate whether localized or global knowledge spillovers are in place. We find that a wider set of partners increases coordination costs, while greater depth in search strategies contributes to innovation. We find that a more diversified search strategy at the local level (greater breadth of search) results in significant payoffs in terms of innovation, while diversifying the partnership with Italian partners has a smaller, although still positive, effect. In contrast, the benefits of depth of innovation are greatest at the global level. In addition, a broader set of information sources for R&D projects has a significant positive effect on innovation. Finally, firms that resort to R&D subsidies are less innovative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past managerial literature found that prior experience of organisations is an important factor affecting somehow their willingness in participating to a R&D consortium. Our research extends this body of knowledge in two directions: (1) by investigating how prior experience affects the choices of organisations coordinating project proposals for R&D programs (the so-called 'coordinators') in terms of composition of their R&D consortia, and (2) by analysing how prior experience affects co-opetition between project coordinators. The assumption of the study is that organisations coordinating and forming R&D consortia for R&D programs usually engage in co-opetitive relationships with each other. Therefore, the research question of the paper is, 'how does prior experience affect the coordinators' choices about the formation of their inter-organisational consortia within a R&D program?' We analysed 2.895 R&D projects of inter-organisational consortia which received funds by the European Union under more Framework Programmes in order to implement R&D projects for the aerospace industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the structurationist notion of ‘technologies-in-practice’, this article analyses the different types of technological actions that users perform, after technological change, in order to keep a declining technology alive over time. The research question of the article is: How do technologies-in-practice based on the application of new technology hamper the creative destruction of old technology? The case study of ham radio technology and amateur radio operators is explored. The results of the investigation support the development of a technology-in-practice ‘experimentation’ and four inductive research propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]