Technology transfer in consortia and strategic alliances

Spurred on by the increasing international competition, the rising cost of advanced research, the need to leverage scarce scientific and technical talent, and the desire to share the risk associated with technology generation and commercialization, technology companies are banding together in research and development consortia and innovative strategic alliances. Managers in these new types of organizations face the intriguing paradox of competition and cooperation. To compete more effectively in international markets, they must find effective ways to cooperate across research and organizational boundaries. Consortia and strategic alliances are arrangements among organizations to work together to gain access to technology and markets and to accomplish objectives of mutual benefit. These arrangements pose unique management challenges. Because the members may come from very different corporate cultures, present different managerial priorities, policies, and procedures, and emphasize different and sometimes conflicting objectives, management faces a variety of organizational, technological, strategic, and cultural barriers to transferring technology expeditiously. In this book, experts from academia, business, and government address these barriers, identify ways to accelerate the technology transfer process, and provide examples of consortia and strategic alliances and their approaches to managing technology transfer.