۱- Introduction

۲- Theoretical background and hypotheses development

۳- The role of the individual transfer and sharing of technological knowledge

۴- Discussion

References

Abstract

In the current dynamic and virtuous flow of knowledge economy, firms are concern about whether to manage innovation centrally or through decentralized business units. Two needs emerge 1. Guaranteeing organizational efficiency and 2. Exploiting effectively market opportunity. This usually implies the integration of knowledge in technology transfer which can be accrued via the knowledge sharing between parties. However, by looking into the technological and social change literature, previous studies were mainly focused on macro-foundation of technology transfer and organizational innovative capabilities with less consideration to the role of psychological precursors of collaborations. Due to this gap, we intended to build a consistent conceptual basis for collaborations and technology transfer practices at the micro level. Therefore, drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) we propose a micro-foundation model for collaborative innovation and technology transfer. To test our theoretical arguments, we use data collected from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) dataset. Hypotheses are tested through both Anova and linear regression analyses. Findings show positive and linear relationships either between our perceived control factors and the intention between technology transfer and intentions.

Introduction

Innovation is widely recognized as the main strategic driver of economic growth and development. For such role, the interest of scholars and policy makers for the theme was increasing thus far beyond saying. Nonetheless, the dynamics of innovation systems are still a relevant conundrum, which is way far to be addressed. As a matter of fact, the complex interplay between knowledge flows and the technological paradigm in use is making innovations more difficult to be achieved and more expensive as well. In a nutshell, firms are having hard time when it comes to develop and introduce new products and processes only by themselves. The alternative is to search externally for partners who are willing to put their knowledge as the main stake on the table. Unavoidably, the consequence is that innovation process became an interplay of various parties who combine their knowledge and reduce problems into simple design requirements (Patel and Pavitt, 1997; Scuotto et al., 2017a, 2017b). As Chesbrough (2003) has wisely foreseen already in the early 2000s, this gradually led firms to an open innovation system, which means opening the borders of internal R&D systems toward external sources of knowledge through various kinds of partnership, licensing contracts, alliances and other technology agreements (Hagedoorn and Duysters, 2002; Drayton and Budinich, 2010; Del Giudice and Maggioni, 2014; Carayannis et al., 2018). Generally speaking, a firm’s ability to exploit technological opportunities emerging from the environment depends on two main factors: the firm’s knowledge-base and its learning process (Cohen & Levinthal, 1989; 1990; Scuotto et al., 2017a; Scuotto et al., 2017b; Carayannis et al., 2017).