26 Jan 2009 16:00
Unit:
Wageningen University
Location:
Aula, building 362, Gen. Foulkesweg 1, Wageningen
Organisation:
Wageningen University
Promotor:
prof.dr. S.W.F. Omta (Management Studies)
Co Promotor:
Dr. E.F.M. Wubben
This PhD research analyses different strategies firms use to profit from knowledge and capabilities of other organizations. Using data from Statistics Netherlands we found that especially since the year 2000 more innovative firms started using external knowledge and that this increase is mainly seen in small and low-tech firms, which are catching up with large and high-tech firms. Moreover, we found that firms that use external knowledge in their innovation process perform on average better in terms of innovations than companies that only innovate in-house. Another interesting finding was that large firm acquisitions turned out to have a positive impact on the long-term innovative performance.
Finally, we investigated the situations in which large mergers and acquisitions have lead to innovation synergies and what R&D integration mechanisms are responsible. In the study of 10 large mergers and acquisitions from different life science industries it was found that the degree of technological relatedness between the firms determines the integration approach chosen and which innovation synergies can be expected.
Title thesis: "Profiting from external knowledge. How firms use different knowledge acquisition strategies to improve their innovation performance"