This document provides a summary of a master's thesis on partnerships between firms for innovation. The thesis contains four parts: an introduction, a literature review, interviews with practitioners, and a conclusion. The literature review finds that factors like a firm's culture, management experience, absorptive capacity, and available resources influence partnership success. Characteristics like the type of control mechanisms, resource sharing agreements, and complementarity of exploration objectives also impact partnerships. Interviews with practitioners indicate that complementarities in expertise and building trust through discussions are particularly important in practice. The thesis aims to help managers understand which partnership choices to make by providing guidelines from the literature and highlighting practical considerations.
Firms frequently face difficult decisions about the scope of activities to perform inhouse, and whether to perform them alone as a solo venture or to perform them collaboratively with one or more partners. As mentioned in Chapter Two, a significant portion of innovation arises not from any single individual or organization, but instead from the collaborative efforts of multiple individuals or organizations. Collaboration can often enable firms to achieve more, at a faster rate, and with less cost or risk than they can achieve alone. However, collaboration also often entails relinquishing some degree of control over development and some share of the expected rewards of innovation, plus it can expose the firm to risk of malfeasance by its partner(s). In this chapter, we will first consider the reasons that a firm might choose to engage in collaborative development or might choose to avoid it. We will then review some of the most common types of collaborative arrangements and their specific advantages and disadvantages.
Research Report - Summary
The research explores the relationship between procurement and innovation, and provides a collaborative procurement framework for that.
Firms frequently face difficult decisions about the scope of activities to perform inhouse, and whether to perform them alone as a solo venture or to perform them collaboratively with one or more partners.
how a strategic partnership form , what is partnership and what is alliences , the collaborative advantege , kentres 8 criterias for succesfull partnership etc...!!!
Firms frequently face difficult decisions about the scope of activities to perform inhouse, and whether to perform them alone as a solo venture or to perform them collaboratively with one or more partners. As mentioned in Chapter Two, a significant portion of innovation arises not from any single individual or organization, but instead from the collaborative efforts of multiple individuals or organizations. Collaboration can often enable firms to achieve more, at a faster rate, and with less cost or risk than they can achieve alone. However, collaboration also often entails relinquishing some degree of control over development and some share of the expected rewards of innovation, plus it can expose the firm to risk of malfeasance by its partner(s). In this chapter, we will first consider the reasons that a firm might choose to engage in collaborative development or might choose to avoid it. We will then review some of the most common types of collaborative arrangements and their specific advantages and disadvantages.
Research Report - Summary
The research explores the relationship between procurement and innovation, and provides a collaborative procurement framework for that.
Firms frequently face difficult decisions about the scope of activities to perform inhouse, and whether to perform them alone as a solo venture or to perform them collaboratively with one or more partners.
how a strategic partnership form , what is partnership and what is alliences , the collaborative advantege , kentres 8 criterias for succesfull partnership etc...!!!
This paper introduces a second edition to the Unpacking Collaborative Bidding white paper – expanding on UT’s original research and revising the original Request for Partner methodology with field-based learnings from multiple pilots.
Unpacking rf partner second edition (ok to distribute) june 17 2019 vitasek v...Jeroen Van de Rijt
Organizations making the shift to a Vested sourcing business model often restructure their existing supplier relationship rather than go to market using a competitive bid process. But what if you want (or need!) to go to market? This whitepaper by …. lays out a process on how to do that. We encourage organizations to embrace more collaborative bidding methods and – when appropriate – know when to use the “Request for Partner” method.
Achieving Sustainability and Responsibility through Stakeholder Engagement: T...Flevy.com Best Practices
Original article from the Flevy business blog can be found here:
http://flevy.com/blog/achieving-sustainability-and-responsibility-through-stakeholder-engagement-the-financial-services-case/
The Increasing Role of Compliance
Finance plays a critical role for society at large, serving individuals, families, businesses, governments, and civic institutions. The Financial Services industry performs indispensable functions such as enabling saving and investment, providing protection from risks and supporting the creation of new jobs and enterprises. It is critical that the industry operates to provide these functions for society in a stable, sustainable way.
Experiences of recent years have revealed a range of vulnerabilities of the financial system. Consequences of its functioning have been extremely costly to society and resulted in a significant loss of public trust and confidence in the financial system. An enormous, multi-year effort by policy-makers and financial institutions is underway to make the financial system more resilient and enable it to sustainably contribute to economic growth and prosperity. The regulatory community has strengthened oversight and prudential requirements as part of a global effort to overhaul and improve financial regulation.
Today, the Financial Services industry is subject to multiple and complex legal and regulatory compliance requirements that span international boundaries. Accenture’s Compliance Risk Study indicates that investment in the compliance function will continue to increase. Compliance officers will need to adapt their programs to navigate the disruption that the financial services industry is going trough. In fact the industry is facing disruptive forces in many forms, from changing customer behavior and the rise of digital technologies to a shifting regulatory landscape. New risks are emerging as well, many fueled by increasing challenges of fighting cyber-crime and others from managing more complex operations in today’s world. In order to respond to these challenges among others, the industry is taking a range of steps to change the way it does business. Improvements have also been made to business practices such as training, sales and product approvals, with increased penalties for breaching standards.
Transformational deals have become desirable, but business leaders agree that they are the most difficult transactions in M&A today. This article lists seven fundamental tenets of M&A integration that can help your company shift its business model and maybe reshape its industry.
Research report the driver of supply management capability Tran Thang
The main purpose of the paper is to identify the driver factors have effect to supply management capability. Many previous studies involve supply management capability have been mainly concern about general competences and individual skill lists which is considered necessary for the professionals to achieve an efficient procurement system. There are little concentration on the drivers of capability in supply management. This paper point out that if the corporations want to increase supply management capability it is crucial to link the role of purchasing and supply management to the strategy of the corporation, formalize the supply management functions and promote the suppliers network values and suppliers orientation to their business.
Partners and partnerships are in a key role in many of the internationalization services provided by Finpro. This is especially true, when our client companies are aiming at emerging markets. The most popular of Finpro’s services is actually our Partner Search.
During the development of our own representative network and related processes Finpro has had to have a broad look at partnering. This has meant reviewing global partner practices of supply and distribution in parallel. One of the conclusions of this review process has been that, regardless of the perspective taken (supply or distribution), many statements are applicable to both cases. This is also visible in the seven thoughts described later in this document. The result is quite logical in business environment as most partnerships within a value chain are formed between a supplier and a distributor.
Shikatani Lacroix conducted a study in the spring of 2013 with over 120 companies participating across the globe. It identified a gap within the brand positioning structure with only half of respondents clearly articulating their company’s brand essence. Few organizations are able to distill their brand’s unique value into easy to remember, simple to understand and focused messaging. There also exists a second, probably more critical gap; since brand positioning is predominantly external, there exists little to no internal focus as part of employee engagement and on-boarding programs.
PMO of the Year Award 2010 eBook, profiling IBM's PM/COE, and the PMOs of all three finalists (34 pages). Presented by PM Solutions and PMOSIG, the award salutes a Project Management Office that has demonstrated excellence and innovation in developing and maturing an organizational structure to support the effective management of projects.
25 tips for Successful Partnerships & AlliancesPeter Simoons
This ebook with 25 tips for successful partnerships and alliances contains the 25 most common elements that are often overlooked when creating a business collaboration like partnerships and alliances.
Collaboration is on the rise and will be an essential element to success in the near future. Whether it be in the collaborative economy, or through strategic alliances, partnerships or joint ventures; collaboration enables us to reach results we can otherwise not achieve alone.
This book is meant to be a quick reference; to help you think about these 25 elements and create successful partnerships and alliances.
When you want to learn more browse to http://petersimoons.com and subscribe to the newsletter for weekly partnership and alliances tips.
This paper introduces a second edition to the Unpacking Collaborative Bidding white paper – expanding on UT’s original research and revising the original Request for Partner methodology with field-based learnings from multiple pilots.
Unpacking rf partner second edition (ok to distribute) june 17 2019 vitasek v...Jeroen Van de Rijt
Organizations making the shift to a Vested sourcing business model often restructure their existing supplier relationship rather than go to market using a competitive bid process. But what if you want (or need!) to go to market? This whitepaper by …. lays out a process on how to do that. We encourage organizations to embrace more collaborative bidding methods and – when appropriate – know when to use the “Request for Partner” method.
Achieving Sustainability and Responsibility through Stakeholder Engagement: T...Flevy.com Best Practices
Original article from the Flevy business blog can be found here:
http://flevy.com/blog/achieving-sustainability-and-responsibility-through-stakeholder-engagement-the-financial-services-case/
The Increasing Role of Compliance
Finance plays a critical role for society at large, serving individuals, families, businesses, governments, and civic institutions. The Financial Services industry performs indispensable functions such as enabling saving and investment, providing protection from risks and supporting the creation of new jobs and enterprises. It is critical that the industry operates to provide these functions for society in a stable, sustainable way.
Experiences of recent years have revealed a range of vulnerabilities of the financial system. Consequences of its functioning have been extremely costly to society and resulted in a significant loss of public trust and confidence in the financial system. An enormous, multi-year effort by policy-makers and financial institutions is underway to make the financial system more resilient and enable it to sustainably contribute to economic growth and prosperity. The regulatory community has strengthened oversight and prudential requirements as part of a global effort to overhaul and improve financial regulation.
Today, the Financial Services industry is subject to multiple and complex legal and regulatory compliance requirements that span international boundaries. Accenture’s Compliance Risk Study indicates that investment in the compliance function will continue to increase. Compliance officers will need to adapt their programs to navigate the disruption that the financial services industry is going trough. In fact the industry is facing disruptive forces in many forms, from changing customer behavior and the rise of digital technologies to a shifting regulatory landscape. New risks are emerging as well, many fueled by increasing challenges of fighting cyber-crime and others from managing more complex operations in today’s world. In order to respond to these challenges among others, the industry is taking a range of steps to change the way it does business. Improvements have also been made to business practices such as training, sales and product approvals, with increased penalties for breaching standards.
Transformational deals have become desirable, but business leaders agree that they are the most difficult transactions in M&A today. This article lists seven fundamental tenets of M&A integration that can help your company shift its business model and maybe reshape its industry.
Research report the driver of supply management capability Tran Thang
The main purpose of the paper is to identify the driver factors have effect to supply management capability. Many previous studies involve supply management capability have been mainly concern about general competences and individual skill lists which is considered necessary for the professionals to achieve an efficient procurement system. There are little concentration on the drivers of capability in supply management. This paper point out that if the corporations want to increase supply management capability it is crucial to link the role of purchasing and supply management to the strategy of the corporation, formalize the supply management functions and promote the suppliers network values and suppliers orientation to their business.
Partners and partnerships are in a key role in many of the internationalization services provided by Finpro. This is especially true, when our client companies are aiming at emerging markets. The most popular of Finpro’s services is actually our Partner Search.
During the development of our own representative network and related processes Finpro has had to have a broad look at partnering. This has meant reviewing global partner practices of supply and distribution in parallel. One of the conclusions of this review process has been that, regardless of the perspective taken (supply or distribution), many statements are applicable to both cases. This is also visible in the seven thoughts described later in this document. The result is quite logical in business environment as most partnerships within a value chain are formed between a supplier and a distributor.
Shikatani Lacroix conducted a study in the spring of 2013 with over 120 companies participating across the globe. It identified a gap within the brand positioning structure with only half of respondents clearly articulating their company’s brand essence. Few organizations are able to distill their brand’s unique value into easy to remember, simple to understand and focused messaging. There also exists a second, probably more critical gap; since brand positioning is predominantly external, there exists little to no internal focus as part of employee engagement and on-boarding programs.
PMO of the Year Award 2010 eBook, profiling IBM's PM/COE, and the PMOs of all three finalists (34 pages). Presented by PM Solutions and PMOSIG, the award salutes a Project Management Office that has demonstrated excellence and innovation in developing and maturing an organizational structure to support the effective management of projects.
25 tips for Successful Partnerships & AlliancesPeter Simoons
This ebook with 25 tips for successful partnerships and alliances contains the 25 most common elements that are often overlooked when creating a business collaboration like partnerships and alliances.
Collaboration is on the rise and will be an essential element to success in the near future. Whether it be in the collaborative economy, or through strategic alliances, partnerships or joint ventures; collaboration enables us to reach results we can otherwise not achieve alone.
This book is meant to be a quick reference; to help you think about these 25 elements and create successful partnerships and alliances.
When you want to learn more browse to http://petersimoons.com and subscribe to the newsletter for weekly partnership and alliances tips.
how to develop business skills with other firm or company or say alliances and what should be our strategies for increasing profit by developing their interpersonal relations and what should be the idea for making a good partnership.
Enterprise Relationships are fundamental to business
success. The research - conducted with Cambridge University Business School - shows how relationships lead to long
term mutual advantage, in which value is largely created by
the quality of interaction between the parties. The overall
performance of a company will therefore depend on how
well it is able to manage its own Enterprise Relationships.
Furthermore the White Paper starts to explore how digital communication can deliver value into these relationships.
AccountAbility et Utopies se sont associés pour produire le rapport « Critical Friends » qui étudie l’expérience des entreprises s’appuyant sur des panels de parties prenantes afin de conforter la stratégie de développement durable. La partie principale de l’étude détaille les expériences en la matière d’entreprises comme Areva, BT, BP, EDF, Camelot, Gaz de France, Ford, Nike et Vodafone.
Ce travail a été réalisé au travers d’interviews avec les membres du panel et de l’entreprise.
Le rapport fournit également un guide pratique pour la mise en place de panels efficaces et étudie comment ces panels peuvent contribuer à l’amélioration continue du reporting, de la gouvernance et de la performance de l’entreprise.
SUCCESS FACTORS AND LIMITATIONS OF EFFICIENT INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONDariusz Tworzydło
The article covers the key issues of internal communication within an organization. It highlights the benefits
of implementation of transparent communication principles for a company. It identifies objectives and
presents selected communication tools. In the article, also guidelines for carrying out research in the
context of development of an internal communication strategy can be found. Selected research areas of
the process of planning and implementation of strategic assumptions have been presented. Factors limiting
effective implementation of an internal communication strategy have been discussed.
Every company, of every size, in every corner of the globe collaborates on one level or another. At one end of the spectrum lies tactical communication and coordination between people, teams, partners and customers. However, the other end of the spectrum is reserved for those who have established the tools, process and culture, and optimized their environment for Collaboration - those who are Collaborating with a "big C". White paper by Bill Haskins, Senior Analyst at Wainhouse Research.
Running head GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT .docxcowinhelen
Running head: GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
GLOBALIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Name
Institution
Advices:
The document needs to be well written: tone of writing, grammar, punctuation, formatting indent, paragraphs, title, sentences structure and so on.
Considering all of the changes and learning that has been accomplished in your field of study during the past two decades, what have you studied or seen as innovative or linked to the creation of new knowledge? Needs to be included in the essay.
During your course of study, you have been exposed to the areas of distance learning and virtual teams (whether working as a group or with your instructor(s) on a one-on-one basis), so you have seen innovation in terms of moving the classroom from a physical location into a virtual state. With this virtual state in mind, more and more organizations have been able to operate globally to a larger degree. Thus, the sharing of knowledge between organizations has become a valued commodity in the workplace and marketplace. Needs to be included in the essay.
Specifically, as you write your response to this question, you may want to incorporate how your current level of knowledge can be used in an innovative way to help strengthen or increase the knowledge in your field. Also, you may want to consider how your experience in distance learning has changed or not changed your views on globalization, distance learning, and/or knowledge management. Needs to be included in the essay.
Abstract
Globalization and knowledge management deals with the application of knowledge, tools and methodologies in the coordination of the complex and unique project. In accordance to the definition, project knowledge can be regarded as useful, resourceful information that enables implementation of the project concerning the objectives that is time to be taken, the execution cost and the quality of the outcome. Knowledge in organisational activities has been confirmed by researchers as fundamental for building competitive advantages of firms and business. This paper aims to document the results of the survey concerning the use of knowledge management practices in international organizations and shows that knowledge management as a helpful tool in the globalization process.
Introduction (It goes in the second page) (Each paragraph needs to be indent) (You have long paragraphs, it needs to be distributed)
Basing your information on the striping and downsizing of the organizations’ core assets in the 19th century, knowledge always surpassed the downsizing aspects. Most of the organization came into realization on the lost assets thus established a framework for managing their existing and future know-how on the assets. Progressively, the companies are focused on the establishment of explicit management in the knowledge assets and seek to leverage the experiences, know-how as well as th ...
Stakeholder Engagement: 7 Effective Strategies for Modern Businesses | Enterp...Enterprise Wired
This article delves into the significance of stakeholder engagement, its impact on business sustainability, and strategies for effective implementation.
This is the short version of the MaFI 2013 Work Plan. If you do not have much time to read the details, here’s a summary of objectives and modules:
Objectives:
- To continue influencing the principles, rules and practices of international development to promote facilitation approaches in inclusive market development using the MaFI-festo as a general guideline.
- To further the practice and thinking of inclusive market development facilitation through a systematic process of learning and action-research between market facilitators and M&E and complexity experts, mainly through the Complexity Dialogues and the Systemic M&E Initiative.
- To produce knowledge products based on MaFI’s learning agenda and processes (e.g. online discussions, webinars and in-person meetings) that inform and build the capacity of field practitioners and are relevant and interesting to other decision-makers such as donors and lead firms.
- To promote in-person interactions and local-global dialogue, learning and coordination through formal and informal initiatives such as Local Learning Groups, MaFI Ambassadors, workshops and conferences.
- To continue improving the efficiency and effectiveness of MaFI’s back-end operations (e.g. guidance to members, processing and selection of requests to join, MaFI introductions, selection of Top Influencer of the Month, etc.)
Modules:
- M&E of MaFI: To build better theories of change and indicators to monitor how learning and collaboration processes change in MaFI and to assess MaFI’s impacts on its members
- MaFI “Instructions Manual”: To codify the operational principles and the lessons learned by the facilitator of MaFI since its beginnings in 2007-8 and to provide tips and instructions about how to manage the back-end processes that keep MaFI running efficiently.
- Systemic M&E, Phase II: To illustrate the practical application, implications and impacts of the principles proposed in the Systemic M&E synthesis document in the context of inclusive market development initiatives.
- Complexity Dialogues: To build a learning agenda that will help MaFI to interact in a more systematic way with complexity experts to improve the application of complexity science in inclusive market development practice and policy-making.
- Capacity Building: To build global convergence and consensus around the basic skills and attitudes that effective and efficient facilitators of inclusive market development initiatives should have.
- Knowledge Production System: To convert the best discussions ever produced by MaFI into knowledge products that are easy to read and can reach large numbers of practitioners globally, both for information and training purposes.
- Local Learning and collaboration: To promote locally contextualised learning and collaboration between key development actors such as field practitioners, policy-makers and donors around issues related to facilitation of inclusive market development
In Chapter 8.4 of the text, the author lays out several action items.docxrochellscroop
In Chapter 8.4 of the text, the author lays out several action items and practices that can be used to achieve good communication inside an organization.
For each of the three practices, outline a scenario describing how that particular practice has been, or could be, implemented in your current organization.
Choose three of the scenarios that you have outlined and discuss them in a short paper. Also discuss the impact of technology on the communication system. Does technology improve or confuse the system?
4.1 Practice 1: Hire, Develop, and Retain Effective Communicators
In a 1998 survey of 480 companies and public organizations by the National Associ- ation of Colleges and Employers, communication abilities are ranked number one among personal qualities of college graduates sought by employers. Work experi- ence and motivation are second and third.[21] Clearly, one of the reasons why com- munication skills are so important is that these skills are essential for facilitating or- ganizational change. A less obvious reason why good communicators are essential is that these individuals understand how to design and enhance the communication systems within an organization so that information flows more effectively. For example, Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that effective leaders “communicate with care.” Communicating with care means that the leaders choose their channels of communication strategically, tailor their message to the aims of the change initiative, authentically disclose intimate details when appropriate, and are very sensitive to the pace and timing of their communications.[22] Clearly, any employee with this subtle set of skills is a rare and valuable human resource, and the organization does well to enhance this skill set in as many individuals as pos- sible, since their skill can be leveraged into improved communication systems for the entire organization.
4.2 Practice 2: Invest in Information Technologies and Experiment With New Formats
The number one capital investment for most organizations is in information tech- nologies; the primary new means of communicating within organizations. By some accounts, information technologies account for 35% to 50% of all business capital investment in the United States.[23] There are several obvious reasons for this high level of investment—the clear benefits of productivity gains due to improved in- formation, the transition from an industrial to an information-based economy, and the declining cost of information technologies coupled with increasing capabilities. However, information sharing is the essence of communication, and so effect- ive information technologies are an essential ingredient to making an organization change capable. Information is being shared more extensively with not only senior executives but also with the entire organization. Examining trends in information sharing in trying to understand organizations that were “built to change,” Ed Lawl- er and Chris.
In Chapter 8.4 of the text, the author lays out several action items.docx
Summary Master_thesis
1. UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN
LOUVAIN SCHOOL OF
MANAGEMENT
and
KATHOLIEK UNIVERSITEIT
LEUVEN
The partnerships processes between firms in innovation:
types, (dis)advantages and success factors.
Summary
Supervisor at LSM: Prof. Benoit Gailly
Supervisor at KUL: Prof. Bart Van Looy
Research Master’s Thesis
Submitted by Maxime Georgin (2166-09-00)
INGE22MS
With a view of getting the degrees
Master of Business Economics: Business
Engineering (Leuven)
Master in Business Engineering
ACADEMIC YEAR 2013 -2014
2. This master thesis on the subject of open innovation has as a main objective to help managers
understanding which choices to make when engaging in partnerships for innovation.
After introducing the subject and a small typology in the first part, the second part – which is
the main one – contains the literature review of existing empirical studies concerning my
subject and a combination of the found results, which may serve as guidelines for managers
involved in alliances. This part is my main contribution to existing knowledge. In a third part,
interviews with four practitioners allowed me to confront theory with practice. Although it
does not cover each part of the theoretical recommendations, it helps to draw conclusions on
other important points felt by humans in practice. These meetings were conducted in French
with interviewees having background in large companies based in Wallonia. The fourth part is
a conclusion of that work.
Part%I%
Open innovation is a recent concept for an old practice: partnerships for innovation. When
collaborating, firms have access to external knowledge, research, and projects in order to help
internal development but also reach new markets or license out and partner to reach other’s
markets with their own technology.
The specific subject here is the partnerships between firms only, with two to five partners and
with exploration objectives as opposed to exploitation.
Part%II%
The outcomes from the literature review are separated in two periods: the factors occurring
before partnerships and the ones that are important during the alliance.
During the first period, the elements are separated in the antecedents to collaboration and the
initiation of the partnership. The firm’s culture plays a role in openness, orientation toward
learning, risk, future needs, and innovation, and knowledge exchange. The motivation of the
members influences the knowledge acquisition, the need and effectiveness of social and
formal control. The experience of the management team also plays a role in the success of a
partnership. The organisational as well as the internal context impact the choice between
focused strategy on exploration and ambidexterity. Ambidexterity means that partners make
both exploitation and exploration at the same time. These impacts come for example through
the perception of support and stability in the environment, and the characteristics of the
network and the position of the firm within it. The last important factor in the antecedents to
collaboration is the absorptive capacity of the firm. This is a central concept since it affects
the ability of the firm to understand and integrate the knowledge coming from the partner and
the environment. Being open is worth nothing if the firm is not able to understand and use
3. new knowledge. Internal R&D as well as partnering with firms having similar knowledge and
technology base support absorptive capacity.
The initiation of partnerships regroups the finding on partner’ industry, potential partners,
networks and number of collaborators. The partner’s industry or technological basis is
important because it defines whether the partner has the complementary but radically new
technology to respond to the firm’s needs but also whether it will be possible to integrate it or
not. The potential partner point concerns the position of the partner in the value chain
(customer, supplier, competitor) or outside the value chain (indirect competitor, potential new
supplier or client, unrelated company). Supplier collaboration is for example advised for firms
searching process innovation while customer alliance is oriented towards products.
Exploration networks are useful to find potential partners. Firms can find complementary
expertise either in strong ties and known partners or in the huge network of weak ties in order
to get access to a larger variety of technology. Both have advantages and disadvantages in
terms of access to knowledge, easiness of integration, and communication and coordination.
The thesis focuses on alliances with two to five partners. All the findings about the optimal
number of partners are regrouped in the last point of the initiation of partnerships.
The second period takes care of the characteristics of the arrangement as well as the mediators
to success of the alliance. Control is a key point to discuss when agreeing on the terms of the
partnership. One of the aspects of control is trust. Trust is necessary when collaborating and is
a powerful way to motivate and control without putting pressure and stress on employees.
However, trust is long to build and hard to maintain. This is done through frequent
interaction, long-term relationship, and reputation building. Besides trusts, other control
mechanisms are developed such as performance systems, milestones and guidelines in a
contract, and hierarchical structure. The difficulty in control is to keep flexibility as
exploration and innovation involve a lot of uncertainty. Another characteristic of partnerships
is the type of agreement in terms of ownership and pooling of resources. Resources may be
put together or task may be done separately with joint meetings for assessment and guidance.
Consistently, ownership may be shared or separated, with consequences in the flexibility but
also on the size of the investment. The last one is the complementarity of exploration
objectives with exploitation.
The mediators to success are the type and availability of resources, the knowledge acquisition
possibilities and the communication and coordination between partners. The resources of a
company impact its ability to manage uncertainty, to reach certain markets and technological
objectives, to exploit internally while exploring externally. Depending on the industry,
4. resources may be available or already committed. Therefore, discussions about resource
allocation are of interest. The knowledge accumulated from previous collaborations with the
same or even with different partners play a role in the effectiveness of new knowledge
integration. Consistently, communication capabilities also influence knowledge integration as
discussions help to understand new technologies. Coordination and day-to-day management
affect the way knowledge is exchanged and resources are used. It has direct effects on
performance.
The combination of these results is the subject of the fourth chapter of part II. A special point
is done for emerging economies due to the specificities of those countries’ institutions. Weak
legal framework (e.g. for IP protection) and bad reputation system make collaborations harder
or, at least, different to manage. Afterwards, there is information about how to better choose
the partner both geographically combined with the sectorial choice and directly in the choice
of the partner (customer, supplier, …). A following point contains the factors influencing the
ambidexterity versus exploration choice. The final section gives general recommendations on
how to perform better in partnerships for innovation. There is advice on absorptive capacity
improvement, organisational structure put in place by the top management, and trust and
resources development.
Part%III%
The third part includes a confrontation between the theoretical findings extracted from the
literature and the feeling of four practitioners active in the field of open innovation. Only parts
of the theory were covered during the interviews because of the theoretical focus of this
thesis. However, interviewees are clear on some interesting points. Besides what is
highlighted in the theory, choices in practice are mainly driven by complementarities in
expertise, technology, and knowledge. Whether partnership is inter-industry or not, with
clients or suppliers, or with shared ownership or separate financing has few importance as
soon as the solution to problems can possibly be found through the partner’s expertise.
Moreover, thanks to the meetings, the readers are now conscious that human relationships
matter much more than expected when reading theory. Even when the partnerships are with
previously unknown companies – because expertise was not present in strong ties –, a lot of
discussions occur in order to easier understand each other and therefore integrate knowledge,
to build trust as soon as possible, and to align objectives.
5. Part%IV%
In conclusion, the reader has know the ability to quickly identify specific literature related to
his needs, the possibility to find advised partnerships corresponding to its firm’s
characteristics, and a general view to key trade-offs to make. Still, one should stay conscious
of the human characteristics of partnerships and engage in discussion a much as possible.