The Dynamics of Research and Innovation in Different Sectors Ben Dankbaar Radboud University Nijmegen

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research2 Overview Background: the MICORD program Some first findings Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Institutional and organizational innovations Conclusions

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research3 Background Teaching management and innovation to science students Research Program MICORD –Managing Innovation, Collaboration and Outsourcing in Research & Development –Supported by Akzo Nobel, Dutch Polymer Institute, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Ministry of Economic Affairs, NWO, Philips, Netherlands Genomics Initiative, Shell, TNO Investigating the gap between (university) science and business –The disappearance of corporate research –The rise of programmed research at universities

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research4 Background First year exploratory phase –Polymers –Consumer electronics –Agro/Food Structured interviews with research managers in appr. 20 enterprises in The Netherlands –Their research portfolio –Outsourcing and collaboration Existing tech; existing market Existing tech; new market New tech; existing market New tech; new market

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research5 Some first findings Limited formal collaboration with universities Collaboration with universities is not always in fundamental fields, but also in more applied areas of specific expertise –Consumer electronics: only very limited research left in The Netherlands –Polymers: positive collaboration in a center of excellence, but whats really new? –Agro/Food: links with specialized university The gap is there, but certainly not always considered as a serious problem –Emphasizing personal, informal links

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research6 Some first findings Although we came to talk about the innovation paradox and the gap between science and business, we often ended up talking about problems of innovation Research managers seemed to be more worried about the possibilities of getting the products of research translated into new products than about getting access to and using the latest knowledge. –Short-termism of business units and divisions –Boards dominated by financial (shareholder) perspectives This problem seemed to be more urgent in chemicals than in Agro/Food. It is one of the reasons for the AppTech approach at Philips

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research7 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Pavitt developed a typology of sectors, looking at characteristics of innovation processes and the sources of technological change –Specialist suppliers –Science based –Scale intensive –Supplier dominated It is important to differentiate carefully between sectors and individual companies or parts of companies The typology is focused on manufacturing, but service sectors can be added relatively easily – there is no need for an additional type

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research8 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Organizing the typology: knowledge flows and market structure

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research9 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation A problem with any sectoral typology is that there is so much variety inside each sector; Adding a typology of companies: differentiating according to (relative) size and technology strategy

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research10 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation 16 Types of companies; each type of sector has a typical firm

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research11 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Specialist suppliers are mainly working B2B; collaborate with (lead) customers and departments of technical universities Technology/knowledge flows to all other sectors Only limited competiton from low wage countries (are indeed major customers)

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research12 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Science-based companies are also mainly working B2B; knowledge flows mainly to specialist supplier and scale- intensive sectors; collaboration and personal networking with universities Growing gap between research departments and business units; radical (breakthrough) innovation difficult Only limited competition on wages due to high capital intensity of production

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research13 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Scale-intensive manufacturers often act as specialist suppliers for their own equipment or collaborate closely with specialist supplier companies Major investments in development and design Development and design are following manufacturing/ assembly to low wage countries Gap between remaining research and divisions operating mainly in other countries

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research14 Sectoral patterns of research and innovation Agro/Food is not so easy to place inside the typology –Some companies are suppliers of (nature-based) materials, operating like specialist supplier or science-based companies on a B2B basis –Some companies are suppliers to retailers, operating on a scale- intensive basis –The sector is heavily regulated and increasingly so, due to discussions about GM and various disasters with animal diseases, comparable to pharmaceuticals The sector perspective is a useful vehicle for making generalizations, but the actual differences between companies, their specific networks and value chains, make it difficult to move beyond broad generalizations

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research15 Institutional and organizational innovations Efforts to close the gap between science and business On the science side: –Centers of excellence –More research money allocated to universities with strings attached (with inevitable debate about indicators of the relevance of fundamental research) –Master specializations in management and innovation for science students –Spin-offs On the business side: –Science managers, technology officers, scouts, etc. operating as boundary spanners in research departments –More attention and appreciation for personal networks

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research16 Institutional and organizational innovations Efforts to close the gap between applied research and business Generating new companies –Incubators –Open Innovation campus –Corporate venturing Generating new business –Innovation managers/marketeers with a science/technology background, not located in divisions or business units but in corporate staff interacting closely with research

21-22 April 20056CP The Future of Research17 Conclusions The innovation paradox did not become very visible, but that may also be due to the fact that academics have specialized themselves into irrelevance Relevant research inside and outside businesses finds it increasingly difficult to find outlets for its results in existing divisions and business units There is a major need for entrepreneurial skills and for people with a science or technology background who are interested in marketing and innovation The large-scale movement of manufacturing and development to other countries forms an additional impediment for the commercial realization of research findings in the scale-intensive sectors