Comparing Chinese and the Indian Software MNCs: Domestic and Export Market Strategies and Their Interplay

China and India are emerging as major new entrants in the international software industry. Both are rapidly learning through outsourcing with multinational enterprises from advanced nations. Yet, their paths to this dynamic sector are very different. Chinese software firms have focused on their domestic market by working with foreign MNCs, while they move cautiously abroad. Indian firms, despite already being large, continue to expand overseas as well as to climb the value chain. We show that a macro perspective on the global movement of work can be gained by utilizing concepts from different approaches to the MNC. At the same time, the innovation systems perspective is necessary to explain the foundations of the industry. The paper provides hypotheses and performs an initial validation of them. It concludes that the internationalization and learning processes are somewhat different in the Chinese and Indian MNCs, and provides explanations for the different patterns.outsourcing, software industry, industrial development, MNCs, MNEs, multinational enterprise, China, India

Licensing Strategies of the Entreprising – But Vulnerable – "Intellectual property” Vendors

This paper investigates in an exploratory manner the licensing strategies pursued by firms whose business model is based on developing and licensing out their intellectual property rights (IPRs). These are not traditional suppliers, since they do not engage in production or commercialization, but focus solely on invention. While considerable anecdotal evidence exists about these IP vendors, there has been no systematic investigation of how they use licensing to appropriate value from their investments in R&D. In this paper, we suggest that the licensing strategies they pursue can be differentiated along two main dimensions: whether the driving force behind the inventive process is "technology push" or "market pull", and the degree to which the innovative activities carried out by the IP vendor are mutually dependent upon the innovative activities of the other relevant market players. On this basis, four main licensing strategies are identified. We investigate the relative benefits and costs of these four strategies, and the factors affecting licensing choices. Key words: Intellectual property, licensing, strategy JEL Codes: O31, O32, O3

Licensing Strategies of the Entreprising – But Vulnerable “Intellectual property” Vendors

This paper investigates in an exploratory manner the licensing strategies pursued by firms whose business model is based on developing and licensing out their intellectual property rights (IPRs). These are not traditional suppliers, since they do not engage in production or commercialization, but focus solely on invention. While considerable anecdotal evidence exists about these IP vendors, there has been no systematic investigation of how they use licensing to appropriate value from their investments in R&D. In this paper, we suggest that the licensing strategies they pursue can be differentiated along two main dimensions: whether the driving force behind the inventive process is “technology push” or “market pull”, and the degree to which the innovative activities carried out by the IP vendor are mutually dependent upon the innovative activities of the other relevant market players. On this basis, four main licensing strategies are identified. We investigate the relative benefits and costs of these four strategies, and the factors affecting licensing choices

L'innovazione nelle piccole e medie imprese: il ruolo dei Centri per il Servizio di Trasferimento Tecnologico nell'Area Vasta Costiera Toscana.

Dopo un primo studio sull'importanza dell'open innovation per le piccole e medie imprese. Si analizza nel dettaglio il ruolo che i Centri per l'Innovazione e il Trasferimento Tecnologico possono avere nei confronti delle imprese (PMI) ma anche nei confronti dei centri di ricerca pubblici. Segue successivamente una ricerca empirica sui Centri per il Servizio di Trasferimento Tecnologico nell'Area Vasta Costiera Toscana