Managing external technology commercialisation: a process perspective

摘要

To appropriate rents from innovation, most industrial firms have concentrated on internal innovation processes in the past. Thus, they have focused on marketing their technological knowledge in their own products. Along with the trend towards open innovation, however, many firms currently try to actively commercialise technologies outside their organisational boundaries. External Technology Commercialisation (ETC) refers to commercialising technological knowledge exclusively or in addition to its application in a firm's own products, e.g., out-licensing agreements. To overcome the focus of prior research on the new product development process, this paper addresses the ETC process, which represents a complementary mode of technology marketing. Based on a thorough analysis of the literature, the ETC process at the multiproject level is examined in depth. This analysis permits us to identify the critical tasks along the ETC process from a managerial perspective. Against the background of increasing managerial interest in ETC, this article deepens our understanding of technology marketing in open innovation systems and has major implications for research into technology transfer.