The External Sourcing of Technological Knowledge by US Pharmaceutical Companies: Strategic Goals and Inter-organizational Relationships

Christel Lane and Jocelyn Probert

Industry and Innovation, 2007, vol. 14, issue 1, 5-25

Abstract: This study of the organization of the discovery function by large US pharmaceutical companies (LPCs) examines an important knowledge acquisition strategy—external sourcing of compounds and technologies. Through a critical examination of the “capabilities” thesis in strategic management and of the theoretical conceptualization in organization studies of innovation networks, we undertake an in-depth qualitative analysis of the network relationships LPCs establish with biotechnology firms/public research laboratories. We additionally examine the motivations and degree of strategic intent of R&D managers involved in external knowledge sourcing. The paper identifies the tensions and contradictions in network relationships and indicates how these lead to changes in knowledge sourcing. This qualitative analysis is placed in its industry and technology context. This reveals both the pressures towards and the trends in external knowledge sourcing, as compared with in-house discovery. Extensive interviews with US LPCs and biotechnology firms provide a rare glimpse of how some of the most important actors in global innovation networks handle a significant new innovation strategy.

Keywords: Pharmaceutical industry; knowledge acquisition; licensing; external sourcing; network relationships (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13662710601130574 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:indinn:v:14:y:2007:i:1:p:5-25

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CIAI20

DOI: 10.1080/13662710601130574

Access Statistics for this article

Industry and Innovation is currently edited by Associate Professor Mark Lorenzen

More articles in Industry and Innovation from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().