3,579 research outputs found
Strategic Knowledge Measurement and Management
Knowledge and intellectual capital are now recognized as vital resources for organizational survival and competitive advantage. A vast array of knowledge measures has evolved, spanning many disciplines. This chapter reviews knowledge measures focusing on groups of individuals (such as teams, business and organizations), as they reflect the stock or flow of knowledge, as well as enabling processes that enhance knowledge stocks and flows. The chapter emphasizes the importance of organizational value chains, pivotal talent pools and the link between knowledge and competitive success, in understanding the significance of today’s knowledge measures, and opportunities for future research and practice to enhance them
The Emergence of De-facto Standards
Increasingly, companies compete on platform technologies that bring together groups of users in two-sided networks. Examples include smartphones and on-line search engines. In industries governed by platform technologies, it is common to see one emerging as the de-facto standard because they are especially prone to network externalities (i.e. when the benefit that can be derived from a technology increases exponentially with the number of users). Competitions for the de-facto standard are high-stakes games. These ‘winner-take-all’ markets demonstrate very different competitive dynamics than markets in which many competitors can coexist relatively peacefully, as they often have a single tipping point which shifts market adoption to one particular technology. The academic field lacks a robust clarification on how firms can shape the odds of their technology emerging as the de-facto standard.
This study develops an integrative framework and corresponding methodology for understanding the process by which a technology becomes the de-facto standard. By applying the framework to several technology competitions, insight is provided in how firm-, technology- and market-related elements influence technology competitions. Results indicate that the emergence of every de-facto standard displays a unique path. This path can be divided into six phases, and can be influenced by 40 unique elements, of which 19 are subject to strategic decision making. Patterns between technology competitions indicate a common set of focal points per phase
Patent nonnuse: are patent pools as possible solution?
Studies have depicted that the rate of unused patents comprises a high portion of patents in North America, Europe and Japan. Particularly, studies have identified a considerable share of strategic patents which are left unused due to pure strategic reasons. While such patents might generate strategic rents to their owner, they may have harmful consequences for the society if by blocking alternative solutions that other inventions provide they hamper the possibility of better solutions. Accordingly, the importance of the issue of nonuse is highlighted within the literature on strategic patenting, IPR policy and innovation economics. Moreover, the current literature has emphasized on the role of patent pools in dealing with potential issues such as excessive transaction cost caused by patent thickets and blocking patents. In fact, patent pools have emerged as policy tools facilitating technology commercialization and alleviating patent litigation among rivals holding overlapping IPRs. In this dissertation I provide a critical literature review on strategic patenting, identify present gaps and discuss some future research paths. Moreover, I investigate the drivers of strategic non-use of patents with particular focus on unused strategic play patents. Finally, I examine if participation intensity in patent pools by pool members explains their willingness to use their non-pooled patents. I also investigate which characteristics of the patent pools are associated to the willingness to use non-pooled patents through pool participation. I show that technological uncertainty and technological complexity are two technology environment factors that drive unused play patents. I also show that pool members participating more intensively in patent pools are more likely to be willing to use their non-pooled patents through pool participation. I further depict that pool licensors are more likely to be willing to use their non-pooled patents by participating in pools with higher level of technological complementarity to their own technology
Comparing Innovation Performance in the EU and the USA: Lessons from Three ICT Sub-Sectors
The objective of the study is to document the existence of innovation gaps between the EU and its main competitors in specific ICT sub-sectors – namely web services, industrial robotics and display technologies –and to explore the role of government policies in Europe’s future needs for innovation in information and communication technologies (ICT) through a comparison with the USA and Asian countries. Our analysis shows that rather than there being a simple innovation gap with the EU lagging behind the USA, a more nuanced picture emerges in which firms in different countries have strengths in different sub-sectors and in different parts of the value chain.
A key lesson from the analysis of the three subsectors is the critical importance of higher education, particularly elite university research, and of local networks as generated by clusters. Governments can also encourage innovation through appropriate intellectual property and competition laws and, more generally, through the development of a business environment conducive to innovation. Finally, Governments can have a very important role through the funding of early-stage innovationJRC.J.3-Information Societ
Business Method Patents: Characters in Search of Legal Protection
PhDThe aim of this research is to investigate the phenomenon of business
method patents in Europe. Not only the issue of patentability of business
methods is discussed, but also the possible strategic use of these
patents and patent applications is explored. For this purpose, a data set
has been specifically created, including all the applications submitted in
the class G06Q (namely data processing systems or methods, specially
adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervision
or forecasting purpose) at the EPO. A quantitative analysis of the
data has been performed, revealing the huge volume of business method
patent applications (more than 34,000) filed at the EPO over the last
20 years. Equally, a continued interest of large companies in patenting
business methods has been demonstrated. However, these empirical
observations seem to be inconsistent with both the legal framework
(most notably Article 52 EPC 2000 establishes that business methods
are not patentable) and the low rate of acceptance of applications (only
a small fraction of patents have eventually been granted) in the category
of business methods at the EPO. All of this supports the hypothesis
that firm demand for business method patent protection can be driven
by strategic purposes, often resulting in inefficiencies in the market and
reducing in competition. Hence, the research presented intends to highlight
overcoming inefficiencies, as well as possible antidotes provided by
the EU competition law. On this purpose, some of the common practices,
such as hold-up or tacit collusion, are identified. At the same time,
the beneficial effects of mutual licensing agreements are highlighted. In
particular, the research examines the European legal framework on the
technology transfer agreements. Their effectiveness in contrasting business
method patents’ strategic uses is analysed, particularly regarding
reduction on competition. Based on this, the thesis argues ultimately
that a wider opening in granting patent protection to business methods
will not result in discouraging new entries in the field
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