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Absorptive capacity and openness of small biopharmaceutical firms – a E uropean U nion– U nited S tates comparison
Author(s) -
Xia Tianjiao
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12017
Subject(s) - absorptive capacity , openness to experience , biopharmaceutical , business , industrial organization , scale (ratio) , business administration , psychology , social psychology , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
The complementarities between internal capabilities and external linkages have been widely acknowledged in the open innovation literature, yet little is known about the extent to which internal capabilities affect firms' openness within different institutional contexts. This paper therefore empirically explores the relationship between absorptive capacity ( ACAP ) and openness in the U nited S tates and E uropean biopharmaceutical sectors. Based on analysis of data from a large‐scale international survey of 349 biopharmaceutical firms in the U nited S tates, the U nited K ingdom, F rance and G ermany, the results suggest that exploratory openness depends more strongly on the research and development ( R&D ) aspect of firms' potential absorptive capacity, whereas exploitative openness is more conditional on firms' realized absorptive capacity ( RACAP ). The results also highlight the major differences between firms' openness and ACAP in the U nited S tates and E urope – in the U nited S tates, firms' skill levels prove more significant in contributing to firms' engagement with exploratory relationships, whereas in E urope, continuity of R&D proves more important. Engagement with exploitative relationships, however, is more conditional on firms' RACAP in E urope only.