Technology versus product innovations - are they like apples and oranges? A comparative study on commercialisation

摘要

Despite the importance of commercialisation in innovation processes, there remains a lack of empirical studies that focus on comparing commercialisation of products and commercialisation of technology. The purpose of this paper is to examine how commercialisation is conducted in these two different domains in the context of business-to-business firms. The objective is to introduce an improved comparison matrix with which to analyse the similarities and differences between these two entities. The first part of the paper is a selective literature review that provides the basis for our comparison. The second part illustrates two case studies and provides a cross-case analysis. The empirical findings of this study reveal novel insight compared to previous findings, and put forward a comprehensive matrix for product and technology commercialisation.