دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی ظرفیت جذب و برون سپاری تحقیق و توسعه - نشریه الزویر

ABSTRACT

I analyze the determinants of research and development (R&D) outsourcing, or investments in R&D purchased from external providers. I build on the knowledge-based view of the firm (KBV) and the concept of absorptive capacity to propose a separation between the mechanisms that form the potential absorptive capacity that enables the firm to identify and integrate outsourced R&D knowledge into the firm, from the mechanisms that form the realized absorptive capacity that enables the firm to use and transform outsourced R&D knowledge into innovation. First, I propose that firms that engage with foreign customers and with foreign suppliers develop the potential absorptive capacity, an ability to understand new and complex external knowledge that is useful for integrating it with firm-internal knowledge, and thus invest more in R&D outsourcing. Second, I argue that firms that have more skilled employees and invest more in internal R&D develop the realized absorptive capacity, an ability to use and transform external knowledge, and as a result invest more in R&D outsourcing. Finally, I propose that these relationships are weakened when the firms are subsidiaries of foreign multinational firms operating in the country, because these firms can also build their absorptive capacity by being integrated with other country subsidiaries and the headquarters within the multinational. I test these arguments on a sample of manufacturing firms and find that firms that import, export, have more skilled employees, and have more internal R&D investment tend to invest more in R&D outsourcing. I also find that, for subsidiaries of foreign firms, the impact of skilled employees and internal R&D on R&D outsourcing is lower than for domestic firms. These ideas provide a theory-driven explanation of the determinants of R&D outsourcing that refine the notion of absorptive capacity and its two dimensions, potential and realized.

5. Conclusions

In this paper I have analyzed the factors that drive investments in R&D outsourcing. Firms are increasingly using this strategy to improve their innovation performance and efficiency (Bertrand and Mol, 2013; Cassiman and Veugelers, 2006; Larsen et al., 2013; Nieto and Rodrı´guez, 2011); however, there is a debate and confusion about why firms make this investment (Contractor et al., 2010; Grimpe and Kaiser, 2010; Weigelt, 2009). Here, I propose that different dimensions of the absorptive capacity of the firm explain why some firms are likely to invest more in R&D outsourcing. The logic is that firms that have created a degree of absorptive capacity are better at extracting value from outsourced R&D knowledge and thus have higher incentives to follow such a strategy. Building on and extending the knowledge-based view (Grant, 2013; Kogut and Zander, 1992, 1993) and the proposed theoretical separation between potential and realized absorptive capacity (Zahra and George, 2002), I have discussed four determinants that reflect these dimensions of absorptive capacity and explained how and why they influence investments in R&D outsourcing. Specifically, I have discussed how firms that have built their potential absorptive capacity by engaging with foreign customers and foreign suppliers have gained a better understanding of different and more complex external knowledge, recognizing its value, and developing the ability to search and integrate such knowledge within the firm. As a result, they invest more in R&D outsourcing. I have also argued that firms that have built a realized absorptive capacity with their more skilled employees and higher investments in internal R&D are more able to extract value from the outsourced R&D knowledge by using and transforming it with firm-internal knowledge to innovate. As a result, these firms invest more in R&D outsourcing. I have tested these arguments on a sample of manufacturing firms in Spain and find support for these ideas.