The Third Face of R&D: The Role of Non-R&D Activities in Learning and Innovation
Speaker
Abstract
| Scholars of innovation have extensively explored the role of research and development (R&D) in learning and innovation. However, two questions have received relatively little attention. First, what is the role of non-R&D activities in learning and innovation? And second, how do intra- and inter-organization learning and innovation relate to each other? In this paper, we argue that different functional areas in the firm—in particular, R&D, marketing, management and manufacturing—contribute to a firm's absorptive capacity—its ability to identity, assimilate and exploit external knowledge. In addition, we contend that the different functional areas are not independent as sources of innovation and learning. More specifically, we argue that R&D not only absorbs knowledge from the external environment but from the other internal functional areas as well. We use survey data and multivariate probit regression analyses to test our hypotheses for both product and process innovation. Our results indicate which intra- and inter-organizational interfaces are significantly driving the innovative contribution of the different functional areas and thereby have important implications for innovation management and research. |
| Contact information: |
| Prof.dr. H.G. Barkema |
