R&D consortia and technology transfer: Initial lessons from MCC

This paper discusses important aspects of technology transfer between MCC (the first R&D consortium to register under the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984) and company-based personnel. An evaluation of established technology-transfer models leads to a discussion of a parallel-processing approach and three important dimensions of the transfer process: mode, initiative, and continuity. Differences between R&D consortia and their member companies are categorized in terms of values and imperatives, networking, time pressure, the universalistic/particularistic nature of research activities, and different evaluation criteria. Generalized managerial implications are presented for R&D consortia.     

How organizations form R&D consortia

The research-and-development consortium is a promising means for pursuing development projects that are difficult to justify by the classical criterion of return on investment to the individual firm. New consortia are being formed in many generic and industrial technologies often with the encouragement and support of government. This paper outlines a seven-stage process by which new consortia are being formed and the six strategies that motivate firms to join consortia (pooling, acceleration, sharing, blocking, linking, and multi-path). Differences in the focus, means, and policy concerns of technology transfer are outlined for each stage and strategy.     

What drives the university use of technology transfer offices? Evidence from Italy

Over the last 20 years, universities have made steady progress in their efforts to foster the process of technology transfer through collaboration with industry. The establishment of technology transfer offices (TTO) has become routine for supporting the commercialization of academic research. However, the literature shows that there are many factors that affect the efficiency and effectiveness of these offices. Based on original data from interviews with 197 university departments in Italy, this paper investigates the determinants of universities university use of TTOs. We take account of the effects of universities’ and TTOs characteristics, of research and geographic indicators.     

R&D consortia: Impact on competitiveness?

This research examines the impact of research and development (R&D) consortia on the competitiveness of American companies. It also concludes that since passage of the 1984 National Collaborative Research Act, which allows companies to jointly perform research, only a few R&D consortia have been formed and they do not have much impact on companies through applications of new technology. It is suggested that R&D consortia may have more impact on firms that are catching-up technologically or for which the particular research is tangential to their core business. He holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the George Washington University (1988), and has worked for the National Science Foundation, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, and the National Academy of Sciences. His interests focus on technology, economic competitiveness, and government policy. He has recently published on these topics in Research Policy (August 1990), and Policy Studies Review (Spring 1991, forthcoming).     

The technology transfer process: Concepts,framework and methodology

The concepts, framework and methodology of the technology transfer process are discussed. On the basis of research a model of the transfer mechanism is developed. This model is carried through several iterations to arrive at a predictive model of technology transfer. The model is useful in terms of exposing difficiencies in the acceptance of new and/or innovative technology. In addition the model has a future usefulness in terms of providing a basis for a quantitative measure of the effectiveness of an organization to capitalize on the technology transfer process.     

Public research and the innovation performance of new technology based firms

Assessing the role of publicly funded scientific research in entrepreneurial ecosystems is of great interest for science and entrepreneurship policy. Knowledge from academic research flows into the private sector through publications, patents, and researcher mobility as well as through direct interactions between founders and researchers at public research institutions (PRIs). New technology-based firms (NTBFs) are generally praised for high innovativeness despite their resource constraints and liability of newness. This study therefore investigates the impact of direct interactions with PRIs on NTBFs’ innovation success. In a large sample of NTBFs in Germany, we find that those firms engaging in such knowledge interactions are more likely to introduce new products and services to the market. The strength of this association, however, depends on interaction persistency, internal R&D and the founders’ academic backgrounds. Non-academic start-ups benefit more from continuous informal interactions if they pursue own R&D, which suggests that absorptive capacity matters. In academic start-ups, higher intensities of both formal and informal interactions are associated with greater innovation likelihood. Moreover, continuous informal interactions complement formal ones in the absence of own R&D activity.

     

Managing the knowledge asset: America's competitive challenge

The American Economy may still be ridiag on economic legacies that are either outmoded or ill-suited to affect the contemporary competitive environment. One legacy is the managerial dependence of scientific management principles; another is a continued belief in the linear concept of science-driven technology. A second theme discussed in this article is the belief that firms must conceptualize outcomes of their operations. Achieving them will then better focus technological research agendas as well as the need to treat management itself as a technology. Finally, the article suggests that the phenomenon of consortia may be one of the most important economic experiments of the latter part of the century. The potential and pragmatic influence of the consortia is considered and its potential is suggested as problematic.     

Performance of technology transfer offices in Germany

The aim of this study is to empirically analyze the performance of technology transfer offices (TTO) in Germany. Although being one of the largest and innovative economies in the world, there is only scarce evidence about the role and performance of TTO in university–industry technology transfer. While policy makers and university managers are often quite optimistic about the impact of TTO in fostering technology transfer into the region, consulting firms and research institutes report such institutions in Germany as superfluous and counterproductive. Using the number of invention disclosures as a performance measure, we analyze how variance in performance can be explained by different organizational structures and variables of TTO. Controlling for regional endowment and university specific effects, our results reveal that TTO performance is mainly a function of the kind of labor division within the TTO and the research intensity of the university. Knowing the drivers of TTO performance may help policy makers and university managers to reflect their strategies, mitigate weak points and thus foster performance.     

Evaluating academic technology transfer performance by how well access to knowledge is facilitated––defining an access metric

Why should research institutions engage in technology transfer? Some say it is about the money. Others say it is about public service and benefit. In the end, we measure what we value. If we only measure money, we confound the non-profit mission of the research institution. If we measure economic impact, the non-profit technology transfer office is often expected to become the economic developer, confusing real estate and business development with technology transfer, often without additional funding. These mission strains lead to overwhelm, fatigue, service shortcomings, and unhappy customers across all classes of stakeholders. This article suggests a return to center for academic technology transfer offices (TTOs) by focusing on a most important question for drivers of our present global knowledge economy––how well does a TTO facilitate access to knowledge protected by intellectual property of its faculty and institution? This article proposes that academic technology transfer performance should be evaluated by how well a TTO avails access to knowledge. Given that performance measures are also referred to as “metrics,” we call this preferred outcomes orientation an access metric.     

Entrepreneurship research centers around the world: research orientation,knowledge transfer and performance

This work investigates entrepreneurship research centers, and analyzes their research performance. Studies on the determinants of performance of research centers have mainly focused on science and technology, while entrepreneurship has been so far neglected. Through an analysis of 46 centers worldwide, we focus on entrepreneurship research and the role of centers, by discussing how knowledge transfer mechanisms and research orientation affect research performance. Our findings contribute to shed light on the divergence of methodologies and approaches characterizing entrepreneurship research; they also corroborate the view that centers enable a “compound Matthew-effect”, according to which knowledge transfer to external stakeholders, after controlling for research orientation of the center, does foster and enrich research performance.     

网络技术条件下提升公共事务监管效能的实践与思考——基于福建省南安市的调查研究

福建省南安市在运用现代网络技术提升公共事务监管效能的探索中,有许多全省乃至全国的创新性实践,非常值得学习和推广。本文基于调查与研究,对该市的做法、成效、问题及对策进行了总结与探讨,以便更好地发挥现代网络技术的功能优势,提升公共事务监管效能。     

Attracting federal research funds: Why so much from so many goes to so few

This paper addresses the question of the distribution of federal research funds. It is noted that the top five institutions in terms of federal funding occupy very stable and extremely high rankings in terms of the quality of their academic programs in a variety of fields. It is suggested that this is part of their overall strategy for achieving organizational effectiveness. The implications for technology generation and transfer are discussed. In view of the various theories of organizational effectiveness, it is noted that research oriented universities that consistently win in the quest for federal research funds have developed both the structure and atmosphere necessary for responding to external groups.     

Evaluation of technology transfer by peer review

We report the outcome of an experiment in the field of program evaluation. Because of the rapid outward growth of technology transfer from federally funded laboratories, it was judged necessary to devise a new, yet effective, way of evaluating technology transfer programs and comparing them to conventional research and development projects. Specifically, technology transfer projects within the High-Temperature Superconductivity program of the Department of Energy were subjected to peer review evaluation by a panel of researchers who themselves conduct technology transfer activities. The evaluation criteria and procedures resembled those used for peer review of basic research, but were adapted to the characteristics of technology transfer projects. We include both the viewpoints of a laboratory being evaluated and of the panel chairman. We comment on the degree of success of this evaluation, and draw some conclusions about how it might be modified for the future.     

Organizational Structure as a Determinant of Academic Patent and Licensing Behavior: An Exploratory Study of Duke, Johns Hopkins, and Pennsylvania State Universities

This paper examines the influences of university organizational structure on technology transfer performance. The analysis treats the organizational structure of the technology-transfer office as an independent variable that accounts, in part, for measured differences in inter-institutional patenting, licensing, and sponsored research activities. We derive and investigate three hypotheses that link attributes of organizational form – information processing capacity, coordination capability and incentive alignment – to technology transfer outcomes. A detailed analysis of three major research universities – Johns Hopkins University, Pennsylvania State University, and Duke University – provides evidence of the existence of alternative organizational structures. The data also suggest that these organizational capabilities result in differences in technology transfer activity.     

Research expenditures,technology transfer activity,and university licensing revenue

In this paper we relate university licensing revenues to both university research expenditures and characteristics of the university and the university technology transfer office. We apply the Hausman–Taylor estimator for panel data with time-invariant explanatory variables and the Arellano–Bover dynamic panel model to unbalanced panels for the years 1991–2003 and balanced panels for the years 1995–2003. We find conflicting evidence regarding the short-term impacts of research expenditures on licensing revenues. On the other hand, both early initiation of technology transfer programs and staff size increase expected licensing revenues. Staff size and early entry appear to be substitutes, however. One-year lagged licensing revenue has strong predictive power for current licensing revenue. Further research is necessary to analyze changes in technology transfer office efficiency over time and the contribution of technology transfer to larger university missions.     

Transferring technology across borders: institutional effects in Chinese context

Effective technology transfer across borders is very complex and difficult. There are so many factors that affect the effectiveness of technology transfer across borders, and the host country’s institutional profile is a critical factor. The country institutional profile reflects the institutional environment in that country and is defined as the set of all relevant institutions that have been established over time, that operate in that country, and that are transmitted into organizations through individuals (Kostova 1997, 1999; Kostova and Roth 2002) [Country institutional profiles: Concept and measurement. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, pp. 180–189; Transnational transfer of strategic organizational practices: A contextual perspective. Academy of Management Review, 24(2), 308–324; Adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: Institutional and relational effects. Academy of Management Journal, 45(1), 213–233.]. There have been some studies about the relationship between institutional profile and technology transfer, but there are few studies with a Chinese context. Technology transfer plays an important role in developing countries and has been as one of vital strategies to build an innovative nation in China. Therefore, it is urgent to focus on the relationship between China’s institutional profile and technology transfer. The results of structural equation modeling, the subject of this paper, were based on an empirical study of 167 foreign ventures sampled in China, but they did not fully confirm what the institutional theory emphasized about the effectiveness of technology transfer. The normative dimension of the country institutional profile was shown to have a significantly positive effect on the effectiveness of technology transferring across borders, but contrary to expectations, the regulatory dimension of the country institutional profile was shown to have a significantly negative effect on the effectiveness of technology transfer, while the cognitive dimension has no significant effect on it. The concluding section of the paper discusses some practical implications and potential future study directions.      

DoD technology for commercialization: Sharing the wealth means spreading the word

The fortunes of information transfer and technology are inextricably bound. The extent to which technology transfer is accomplished depends largely on the effectiveness, selectivity, and efficiency with which information is transferred. This article reviews DoD agents that bring about the transfer of its information; in doing so, they contribute to the transfer of DoD’s technology to state and local governments and to the private sector. It emphasizes the role played by the Defense Technical Information Center.     

Technology Transfer to China The Issues of Knowledge and Learning

The aspect of effectiveness of technology transfer to developing countries still raises important questions from researchers and practitioners alike. Many of these questions pertain to the nature of knowledge and of the learning process. The first question for this paper is what forms of knowledge are transferred abroad by companies. The second question is what are the characteristics of the learning process in recipient firms during technology transfer. Twenty-eight Canadian manufacturing firms were interviewed. Seven case studies were also conducted in China.Our results demonstrate that tacit knowledge constitutes a substantial part of the total knowledge transferred by Canadian firms to China. The nonexplicit nature of knowledge leaves room for numerous problems of interpretation, not only at the technical and managerial level, but also at the more global level of national culture and institutions. Our findings tend to validate the evolutionary and cognitivistic positions on the nature of knowledge. The results also partly confirm our sequential model of learning.     

Transferring technology into and within the third world

This article is based on Jordan J. Baruch's talk at the banquet at this year's Technology Transfer Society's annual meeting on the occasion of his being named winner of the society's Thomas Jefferson Award. As recipient of the award, he was cited for outstanding achievements in technology transfer in three categories:1. Exemplary success in managing actual transfer (Baruch invented and managed transfer of many civilian and military technologies in acoustics.).2. Leadership in technology-transfer public policy (He has been a frequent expert in Congressional testimony on such issues as consortia in technology development and commercialization. He also led efforts to develop formal organizations to promote technology transfer between the US and other nations such as Israel, Jordan, India, China, and several African countries.).3. Significant contributions to professional knowledge in technology transfer (Baruch has promoted the use of computer conferencing and was the conceptual and political driving force for the formation of the Center for Utilization of Federal Technology.). Jordan J. Baruch, who has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is a consultant (Jordan Baruch Associates). He served as assistant secretary for science and technology at the US Department of Commerce in 1977–81. A professor at Dartmouth, The Harvard Business School, and MIT, he also was a founding partner of the engineering firm Bolt Beranek & Newman. Baruch is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.     

The impact of technology transfer contract on a firm’s market value in Korea

Technology transfer has been evaluated as a driving force of economic growth as well as one way to create new innovation. In order to make a successful technology transfer, both additional emission efforts by the supplier and absorption efforts by the recipient are required, because it is not as simple as the acquisition of a capital good. This study seeks to better understand the nature of successful technology transfer in Korea. We empirically analyzed the impact of the supplier’s characteristics (cultural distance, relationship type, form of technology transfer, and licensing type) and the recipient’s characteristics (absorptive capacity) on the market value of firms in Korea using the event study methodology. We found that technology transfer announcements significantly increase the market value of firms in Korea, and market responses to the recipient firms are significantly greater than those to the supplier firms. Our results showed that the effect of alliances with complementors (e.g., university, government laboratory) is greater than that of alliances with industry players, and the effect of an exclusive license as a method of technology transfer is greater than that of a non-exclusive license. However, we were not able to determine whether the impact of high levels of absorptive capacity is significantly different from that of low levels of absorptive capacity. Our study will not only complement and extend research on technology transfer, but also provide firms with various methods to decrease the risks related to technology transfer.