Coping with uncertainty - Exploration, exploitation, and collaboration in R&D
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2013-01-01
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This paper studies the formation of and the motives for research and development (R&D) activities. In it, we explore the linkages between explorative and exploitative R&D activities and the different types of governance structures firms use when organising R&D. Additionally, we analyse the relationship between different kinds of firm-external uncertainties arising from the operating environments and the organisation of R&D activities. Finally, we scrutinise the impact of the collaboration mode on a firm's innovative performance, and stress the important role of knowledge sharing as a generator of success in innovative performance. We employ survey data from our sample of 299 Finnish companies. The findings indicate that a firm's choice of R&D governance structure is partly affected by the selection of an explorative or exploitative strategy, which in turn depends on the degree of firm-internal uncertainty. External dynamism is an additional factor affecting the choice of the preferred governance structure.
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Kuittinen , H , Puumalainen , K , Jantunen , A , Kyläheiko , K & Pätäri , S 2013 , ' Coping with uncertainty - Exploration, exploitation, and collaboration in R &D ' , International Journal of Business Innovation and Research , vol. 7 , no. 3 , pp. 340-361 . https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIR.2013.053635