Determinants of Success in R&D Alliances

Keywords

alliances, innovation, knowledge management

Abstract

This study offers an examination of the determinants of innovative success in R&D alliances. The relative importance of a set of alliance design factors (e.g., alliance structure characteristics such as number and type of partners, and firm-level attributes such as prior alliance experience and existing R&D capabilities) and alliance management factors (e.g., frequency of communication among partners, effectiveness of governance arrangements). These factors are hypothesized to influence the alliance partners’ ability to exchange knowledge and collaborate in R&D, and thereby influence their ability to produce innovations. The study uses a survey dataset of 397 firms involved in 142 R&D alliances that were supported by the Advanced Technology Program. Three measures of alliance success at the firm level are utilized: a perceptual measure of overall value, patent application, and financial value realized from technology commercialization. Alliance designers are largely successful in “optimally” choosing the structure of alliances. The empirical analysis shows that the number of alliance partners and the presence of competitor firms have little effect on alliance outcomes. Among the alliance man agreement factors, effective governance arrangements and frequent communication are found to have an important and positive impact on alliance outcomes. Finally, the results show that more ambitious projects that “reach for the stars” have more successful outcomes.

Original Publication Citation

Dyer, J.H., M. Sakakibara, B. Powell, & A. Wang. “The Determinants of Success in R&D alliances.”

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2006

Publisher

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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