Technology transfer across organizational boundaries: Absorptive capacity and desorptive capacity

California Management Review

Volumn 53, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 154-170

  Lichtenthaler, Ulrich ^a   Lichtenthaler, Eckhard ^b  

^a WHU OTTO BEISHEIM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT   (Germany)

^b ETH ZURICH   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 78651332854     PISSN: 00081256     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/cmr.2010.53.1.154     Document Type: Article

References (84)

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4. O. Gassmann, E. Enkel, and H. Chesbrough, "The Future of Open Innovation," R&D Management, 40/3 (2010): 213-221.
5. Procter & Gamble's open innovation activities are described in detail in L. Huston and N. Sakkab, "Connect and Develop: Inside Procter & Gamble's New Model for Innovation," Harvard Business Review, 84/3 (March 2006): 58-66. For the other examples in this paragraph,
6. see H. Chesbrough, Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2006);
7. U. Lichtenthaler and H. Ernst, "Technology Licensing Strategies: The Interaction of Process and Content Characteristics," Strategic Organization, 7/2 (May 2009): 183-221;
8. U. Lichtenthaler and E. Lichtenthaler, "A Capability-Based Framework for Open Innovation: Complementing Absorptive Capacity," Journal of Management Studies, 46/8 (December 2009): 1315-1338;
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14. Lichtenthaler and Lichtenthaler, op. cit.
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23. Alexy, Criscuolo, and Salter, op. cit.
24. This understanding of technology transfer capabilities is consistent with some broad definitions of dynamic capabilities, e.g., D.J. Teece, G. Pisano, and A. Shuen, "Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management," Strategic Management Journal, 18/7 (August 1997): 509-533;
25. C.E. Helfat, S. Finkelstein, W. Mitchell, M.A. Peteraf, H. Singh, D.J. Teece, and S.G. Winter, Dynamic Capabilities: Understanding Strategic Chance In Organizations (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007). In contrast, absorptive and desorptive capadty are primarily considered organizational capabilities or substantive capabilities in the terminology of other definitions, e.g.,
26. M. Zollo and S.G. Winter, "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, 13/3 (May/June 2002): 339-351;
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28. These other definitions primarily refer to dynamic capabilities as higher-order capabilities. As this discussion is not the focus of our paper, we refer to absorptive and desorptive capacity as capabilities or organizational capabilities throughout the article.
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35. Cohen and Levinthal, op. cit.
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41. Lichtenthaler and Lichtenthaler, op. cit.
42. Lichtenthaler and Lichtenthaler, op. cit.
43. Ibid..
44. Chesbrough (2006), op. cit.
45. Gambardella, Giuri, and Luzzi, op. cit.
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50. Davis and Harrison, op. cit.; L. Davis, "Licensing Strategies of the New 'Intellectual Property Vendors'," California Management Review, 50/2 (Winter 2008): 6-30.
51. Davis and Harrison, op. cit.
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54. H. Chesbrough and A.R. Garman, Harvard Business Review.
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57. Chesbrough and Garman, op. cit.
58. Arora, Fosfuri, and Gambardella, op. cit.
59. Chesbrough and Garman, op. cit.
60. H. Chesbrough, "The Market for Innovation: Implications for Corporate Strategy " California Management Review, 49/3 (Spring 2007): 45-66.
61. Davis and Harrison, op. cit.
62. Rivette and Kline, op. cit.; Chesbrough (2006), op. cit.
63. A. Fosfuri, "The Licensing Dilemma: Understanding the Determinants of the Rate of Technology Licensing," Strategic Management Journal, 27/12 (December 2006): 1141-1158; Lichtenthaler (2007), op. cit.
64. Fosfuri, op. cit.
65. Ibid..
66. J. Howells, "Intermediation and the Role of Intermediaries in Innovation," Research Policy, 35/5 (June 2006): 609-766.
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69. Cohen and Levinthal, op. cit.;
70. Zahra and George, op. cit.;
71. Lane, Koka, and Pathak, op. cit.
72. For the example of IBM, please see Chesbrough (2006), op. cit.; Lichtenthaler (2007), op. cit. For further examples, please see P.C. Grindley and D.J. Teece, "Managing Intellertual Capital: Licensing and Cross-Licensing in Semiconductors and Electronics," California Management Review, 39/2 (Winter 1997): 8-41; Rivette and Kline, op. cit.; Alexy, Criscuolo, and Salter, op. cit.
73. Chesbrough and Garman, op. cit.
74. Rivette and Kline, op. cit.; Chesbrough (2003), op. cit.
75. Arora, Fosfuri, and Gambardella, op. cit.
76. J.-P. Escher, "Design and Implementation of Technology Marketing Organizations," in H. Tschirky, H.-H. Jung, and P. Savioz, eds., Technology and Innovation Management on the Move (Zurich: Orell Füssli, 2003), pp. 215-228.
77. The notion of "not-sold-here" attitudes was initially suggested by Chesbrough (2003), op. cit.
78. Huston and Sakkab (2006), op. cit.
79. Davis and Harrison, op.'cit.; Lichtenthaler (2007), op. cit.
80. A. Cohen, "Licensing's In and the Lawyer's Out," IP Law & Business, 4/4 (April 2004): 31-33.
81. Lichtenthaler and Lichtenthaler, op. cit.
82. Chesbrough (2006), op. cit.; Huston and Sakkab (2006), op. cit.; U. Lichtenthaler, "Open Innovation in Practice: An Analysis of Strategic Approaches to Technology Transactions," IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 55/1 (February 2008): 148-157.
83. Jacobides and Winter, op. cit.
84. P.J. Lane and M. Lubatkin, "Relative Absorptive Capacity and Interorganizational Learning," Strategic Management Journal, 19/5 (May 1998): 461-477.