Chapter 11: Managing Collaborative Innovation in Nanotechnology Research Centers

Managing technological innovation in nascent science-driven industries often requires academic collaboration as well as collaboration between academic research centers and industry partners. Nevertheless, it is unclear how such collaborations contribute to technological innovation and whether internal resources of research centers complement or substitute for their effects. These are central issues that policymakers face when seeking to promote technological innovation. Prior research has underscored the value of collaborative ties that furnish access to network resources and alluded to the complementary value of internal resources and network resources of partners. Less attention has been paid to the tradeoffs and contingencies that drive these effects and may undermine knowledge creation and application. We identify boundary conditions for the positive effects of collaboration and claim that internal resources can both complement and substitute for collaboration, depending on the extent of collaboration. In particular, we refer to certain tradeoffs that may emerge as university research programs weigh the pursuit of new scientific knowledge against the leveraging of existing knowledge. We offer theory and evidence that reveal how academic collaboration influences knowledge creation whereas industry collaboration independently drives knowledge application, with excessive collaboration undermining both processes. We further indicate that internal resources limit the value of collaboration as long as the number of collaborators is not excessive. Once this number exceeds a certain threshold, internal resources enhance its diminished contribution to knowledge creation. These insights bear important implications for contemporary management of technological innovation.