Chapter 8 - Collaboration strategies

Question 1

What are the motivation to develop a technology alone?

Answer 1

• capabilities and resources needed all possessed in house
• development of new technology opportunity for new competencies
• control trajectory and future development
• proper partner not available
• appropriate when:
  
  • firm has strong related competencies
  • capital
  • no time pressure

Question 2

What are the motivation to collaborate?

Answer 2

• lowers the costs and risks associated with development
• obtain skills or resources faster than developing them
• reduces its asset commitment
• more flexibility
• opportunity to acquire new knowledge
  
  • transfer or development
• can result in shared standards
• firms match the trade-offs of a collaboration mode to their needs

Question 3

What are the risks of collaborating?

Answer 3

• relinquish some degree of control
• share the financial returns
• possibility of malfeasance by its partner

Question 4

What partners could be chosen and for what?

Answer 4

• suppliers
• customers
• competitors
  
  • similar products different market
  • similar markets different products
• complementors
• non-profit organizations
• government organizations
• universities …
• various areas:
  
  • manufacturing, technology objectives
  • services, research
  • marketing

Question 5

What types of Collaborative Arrangements there are?

Answer 5

• strategic alliances
  
  • informal, flexibility
• joint ventures
  
  • highly structured, significant investments
  • separate entity
• licensing (in and out)
  
  • technology exchange agreements
  • rights to use another’s intellectual property for royalties
• outsourcing
  
  • services for others
• collective research organizations
  
  • facilitate collaboration among a group of firms

Question 6

Strategic alliances

Answer 6

• significant investment in time and resources
• exchange of capabilities
  
  • different types and scale
• faster, lower cost and risks
• flexibility to pursue various opportunities
• two dimensions
  
  • transfers capabilities between firms (or combine them)
  • collective network of alliances (or individual)

Question 7

What are the risks of developing alone?

Answer 7

• relatively slow and expensive
• no other competencies, only firm’s
• risk of transferring knowledge

Question 8

Joint ventures

Answer 8

• slight time advantage over solo development
  
  • combined effort
• cost sharing
• leveraging existing competencies
  
  • access partner competencies
• develop new competencies
• particularly desirable when places value on access to other’s competencies

Question 9

Licensing in

Answer 9

• fast access to new technology
• moderately priced
• leveraging existing competencies
  
  • access partner competencies
• develop new competencies
• limited use of a technology and low degree of control

Question 10

Licensing out

Answer 10

• fast way to expand market and use of technology
• low cost
• leveraging existing competencies
  
  • access partner competencies
• no development of new competencies

Question 11

Outsorcing

Answer 11

• rapid access to another firm’s expertise
• low cost
• leveraging existing competencies
• no development of new competencies

Question 12

Collective research organization

Answer 12

• long-term commitment
• various degrees of cost and control
• leveraging existing competencies
  
  • access partner competencies
• develop new competencies
• useful in markets with complex technologies or require investments in basic science

Question 13

How to choose partnerns for a collaboration?

Answer 13

• resources fit and strategic fit [alignment]
• careful because partner could exploit collaboration
  
  • stealing knowledge, no reciprocity
• limit collaborations, choose partners carefully, monitor and governance
  
  • limit risks

Question 14

What are the governance mechanism between partners?

Answer 14

• Alliance contracts
  
  • clarify rights (control) and obligations (contribution), legal remedies to violations
• Equity ownership
  
  • each partner contributes capital and has a share of equity
  • align incentives and provide sense of ownership
• Relational governance
  
  • self-enforcing governance based on trust and reputation
  • built over time, facilitates cooperation

Question 15

Why are positions in collaborative network important?

Answer 15

• influences its access to information, other resources and outcomes
• central firms might have access to more information and faster
• brokerage positions (link) may have opportunities to make unique and valuable combinations
  
  • gatekeepers in the flow of information