Lecture Summaries - Cooperating for Innovation
Lecture 1 – Introduction. Cooperating for Innovation: Core concepts & themes.
1. Gulati, R. (1998). Alliances and networks. Strategic Management Journal, 19(4), 293-317.
2. Laursen, K., & Salter, A. (2006). Open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining
innovation performance among UK manufacturing firms. Strategic Management Journal, 27(2),
131-150.
3. Du, J., Leten, B., Vanhaverbeke, W. (2014). Managing open innovation projects with
science-based and market-based partners. Research Policy, 43(5), 828-840.
Core concept of CFI
An organization’s strategies to create and manage innovation-oriented activities that are
developed in collaboration with other organizations (e.g. R&D alliances, technology
development agreements, etc.)
Concept: approach of OG to develop innovation in collaborative manner
(a) collaborative innovation phenomenon - beyond boundaries of OG
(b) Example of Toyota and Interstellar strategic partnership - manufacturing technologies;
They do these collaborations with startups from different industries to:
● Expand their market and manufacturing capabilities to meet worldwide demand
● Diversification of business
● Develop technology of the future - navigating technology
● Toyota Motor Corp. personnel have worked with Interstellar to reduce
manufacturing costs, shorten lead times and set up mass production. Through
the strategic partnership, Interstellar will seek guidance from Toyota in
improving production methods and strengthening its supply chain.
● This is a huge investment but things can still go wrong.
If you create an alliance (tech oriented), that alliance is most likely to fail or go
wrong!
https://scisummary.com/
What is a strategic alliance?
“A cooperative agreement in which two or more separate organizations team up in order to
share reciprocal inputs while maintaining their own corporate identities” (De Man & Duysters,
2005: 1377)
,Notes:
1. Umbrella term for inter organizational partnership - all forms of agreement
2. 2 og’s cooperating to benefit both, all parties
3. Medium to long-term relationship - not a transaction
4. Cooperation: benefit from competences and skills; benefit from what you lack
5. Establish common ground- alignment of goals
6. To benefit: share information, communicate to make agreements on how to organize
cooperation
7. Easy to see what lacks but hard to establish agreements to make it happen!
8. Keep your own corporate identities: this is not an M&A, you still operate as your own
company (key difference).
9. If alliance is a joint venture you set a separate entity where you work together, own
together (equity)
Alliance typology
Alliance goals:
> R&D/innovation vs. marketing, manufacturing
Alliance legal form:
> Contractual vs. Joint ventures; equity vs. non-equity
Type of partner:
> International vs. domestic
> Firm-firm: clients & suppliers; competitors
> Cross-sector: firm-government; firm-university
Number of partners:
> Dyadic (2 partners)
> Multi-partner (3 or more partners)
(a) alliances are not mutually exclusive
(b) contracts with intention to cooperate
(c) collaborate w/competitors, cross-sector private or public institutions.
Examples of strategic alliances: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi: A well established, holistic JV
collaboration between competitors (since 1999) https://alliancernm.com/
Some examples reflect how alliances can fail
*focus on alliances that bring about innovations
1st example- look into case = how things can go really wrong after being a big collaborator for years.
ask chat GPT
,Alliances are ubiquitous; yet, alliance failure rates remain high (>50%)
Alliances are essential part of innovation - need to collaborate, even cross-industries to prepare
for the future
Failures are high: end earlier or not achieve outcomes
Huge opportunities for innovation, better strategy
Challenges: high rates of failure
a. TCE theory states that partners are opportunistic by nature (possible challenge)
b. cultural challenges
c. issue of compatibility
d. loss of knowledge, hard to share knowledge of codified
e. difficult to create trust
f. focus on too much novelty, risk, unexpected problems (technical side)
Theoretical Frameworks
, Transaction costs & Resource-based view: Arguably, the most dominant theoretical
frameworks in strategic alliance research (see also Gulati, 1998)
A. RBV
RBV: resources that we own and control, greatest drivers of performance and drive competitive
position within the market.
Resources owned or controlled by the firm have the potential to provide enduring competitive
advantage when they meet the so-called VRIN conditions (Valuable,rare, difficult to imitate and
not readily substitutable) (Barney, 1991)
Value-creating resources (and capabilities) can be outside the boundaries of the firm (Gulati,
1999). Firms’ networks allow accessing such resources "network resources“ (Gulati, 1999)
Together, the firm's networks, and the resources they allow the firm to tap into, can serve as a
source of sustainable competitive advantage.
Alliance rationale: Access to partners’ complementary resources that can lead
to synergy realization (unique combination of resources).
Lecture 1 – Introduction. Cooperating for Innovation: Core concepts & themes.
1. Gulati, R. (1998). Alliances and networks. Strategic Management Journal, 19(4), 293-317.
2. Laursen, K., & Salter, A. (2006). Open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining
innovation performance among UK manufacturing firms. Strategic Management Journal, 27(2),
131-150.
3. Du, J., Leten, B., Vanhaverbeke, W. (2014). Managing open innovation projects with
science-based and market-based partners. Research Policy, 43(5), 828-840.
Core concept of CFI
An organization’s strategies to create and manage innovation-oriented activities that are
developed in collaboration with other organizations (e.g. R&D alliances, technology
development agreements, etc.)
Concept: approach of OG to develop innovation in collaborative manner
(a) collaborative innovation phenomenon - beyond boundaries of OG
(b) Example of Toyota and Interstellar strategic partnership - manufacturing technologies;
They do these collaborations with startups from different industries to:
● Expand their market and manufacturing capabilities to meet worldwide demand
● Diversification of business
● Develop technology of the future - navigating technology
● Toyota Motor Corp. personnel have worked with Interstellar to reduce
manufacturing costs, shorten lead times and set up mass production. Through
the strategic partnership, Interstellar will seek guidance from Toyota in
improving production methods and strengthening its supply chain.
● This is a huge investment but things can still go wrong.
If you create an alliance (tech oriented), that alliance is most likely to fail or go
wrong!
https://scisummary.com/
What is a strategic alliance?
“A cooperative agreement in which two or more separate organizations team up in order to
share reciprocal inputs while maintaining their own corporate identities” (De Man & Duysters,
2005: 1377)
,Notes:
1. Umbrella term for inter organizational partnership - all forms of agreement
2. 2 og’s cooperating to benefit both, all parties
3. Medium to long-term relationship - not a transaction
4. Cooperation: benefit from competences and skills; benefit from what you lack
5. Establish common ground- alignment of goals
6. To benefit: share information, communicate to make agreements on how to organize
cooperation
7. Easy to see what lacks but hard to establish agreements to make it happen!
8. Keep your own corporate identities: this is not an M&A, you still operate as your own
company (key difference).
9. If alliance is a joint venture you set a separate entity where you work together, own
together (equity)
Alliance typology
Alliance goals:
> R&D/innovation vs. marketing, manufacturing
Alliance legal form:
> Contractual vs. Joint ventures; equity vs. non-equity
Type of partner:
> International vs. domestic
> Firm-firm: clients & suppliers; competitors
> Cross-sector: firm-government; firm-university
Number of partners:
> Dyadic (2 partners)
> Multi-partner (3 or more partners)
(a) alliances are not mutually exclusive
(b) contracts with intention to cooperate
(c) collaborate w/competitors, cross-sector private or public institutions.
Examples of strategic alliances: Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi: A well established, holistic JV
collaboration between competitors (since 1999) https://alliancernm.com/
Some examples reflect how alliances can fail
*focus on alliances that bring about innovations
1st example- look into case = how things can go really wrong after being a big collaborator for years.
ask chat GPT
,Alliances are ubiquitous; yet, alliance failure rates remain high (>50%)
Alliances are essential part of innovation - need to collaborate, even cross-industries to prepare
for the future
Failures are high: end earlier or not achieve outcomes
Huge opportunities for innovation, better strategy
Challenges: high rates of failure
a. TCE theory states that partners are opportunistic by nature (possible challenge)
b. cultural challenges
c. issue of compatibility
d. loss of knowledge, hard to share knowledge of codified
e. difficult to create trust
f. focus on too much novelty, risk, unexpected problems (technical side)
Theoretical Frameworks
, Transaction costs & Resource-based view: Arguably, the most dominant theoretical
frameworks in strategic alliance research (see also Gulati, 1998)
A. RBV
RBV: resources that we own and control, greatest drivers of performance and drive competitive
position within the market.
Resources owned or controlled by the firm have the potential to provide enduring competitive
advantage when they meet the so-called VRIN conditions (Valuable,rare, difficult to imitate and
not readily substitutable) (Barney, 1991)
Value-creating resources (and capabilities) can be outside the boundaries of the firm (Gulati,
1999). Firms’ networks allow accessing such resources "network resources“ (Gulati, 1999)
Together, the firm's networks, and the resources they allow the firm to tap into, can serve as a
source of sustainable competitive advantage.
Alliance rationale: Access to partners’ complementary resources that can lead
to synergy realization (unique combination of resources).
