Open Innovation and internationalization of R&D activities in multinational companies (MNEs) (R-1832)

The increasing trend towards internationalization of R&D activities implies that MNEs cooperate with local R&D partners abroad (e.g. universities, research labs, other firms, etc╝). Consequently, this trend should be related to open innovation which focuses on the benefits of tapping into external technology sources. However, globalization of R&D and open innovation have not been connected so far. This PhD-study intends to fill this research gap. Linking the literature about internationalization of R&D with that about open innovation will lead to a better understanding how a firm can tap into local epochs of tacit and contextual knowledge. Next, introducing the international dimension into open innovation will increase the relevance of the latter for the management of large multinational companies. The benefits are threefold: (1) firms have to decide how widely to look for new knowledge. (2) Tapping into locally embedded external knowledge, which is a central theme in open innovation, has to be adapted to intercultural and international settings. (3) A geographically dispersed network of R&D-enters introduces new management challenges such as knowledge integration in a MNE.

Keywords:INTERNATIONALISATION, OPEN INNOVATION, R&D

Disciplines:Economics and business