We merge research into knowledge management, absorptive capacity, and dynamic capabilities to arrive at an integrative perspective, which considers knowledge exploration, retention, and exploitation inside and outside a firm's boundaries. By complementing the concept of absorptive capacity, we advance towards a capability-based framework for open innovation processes. We identify the following six 'knowledge capacities' as a firm's critical capabilities of managing internal and external knowledge in open innovation processes: inventive, absorptive, transformative, connective, innovative, and desorptive capacity. 'Knowledge management capacity' is a dynamic capability, which reconfigures and realigns the knowledge capacities. It refers to a firm's ability to successfully manage its knowledge base over time. The concept may be regarded as a framework for open innovation, as a complement to absorptive capacity, and as a move towards understanding dynamic capabilities for managing knowledge. On this basis, it contributes to explaining interfirm heterogeneity in knowledge and alliance strategies, organizational boundaries, and innovation performance. Copyright (c) Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2009.

No abstract

How have the technology intelligence approaches of large technology-intensive companies changed in the last 30 years? This paper aims to answer this question through case study research in 26 leading European and North American companies in the pharmaceutical, telecommunication equipment and automobile/machinery industries. The empirical results show that technology intelligence approaches have closely followed the changes in R&D organization, project selection and technology planning. Three generations of technology intelligence management can be distinguished. Furthermore, the contingency factors for the location of technology intelligence within technology intensive companies are identified.

The importance of technology intelligence is widely accepted in theory and practice. However, existing research is contradictory on how this process should be coordinated. Therefore, it is the objective of this contribution to derive insight into the coordination of technology intelligence processes in leading multinational companies. The results of an exploratory case study research in 26 leading European and North American companies in the pharmaceutical, telecommunications equipment and automobile/machinery industry are presented. The results show firstly, that three forms of coordination of technology intelligence processes exist. Secondly, the basic distribution of tasks in the technology intelligence process between the three layers of coordination are presented. Thirdly, the different forms of integration of these three forms of coordination of the technology intelligence process are described. Fourthly, the communication media used in the technology intelligence process is discussed. Finally, the information sources and methods used for the technology intelligence process are shown.

No abstract