Selecting sourcing strategies for technological innovation: an empirical case study

This paper faces the problem of the decision maker who has to identify the most appropriate organisational mode for the external acquisition of a certain technology. Its objective is twofold: to explain the rationale behind the choice of a definite mode of collaboration, i.e. to understand which aspects of the specific technological collaboration are considered by companies when selecting the organisational form; and to describe the process through which the choice is actually made, i.e. to understand which is the logical path which leads to selection of a definite organisational form. A framework is proposed and then applied to a case study.