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From depth and breadth of knowledge to technological capability: a journey inside a firm's intellectual capital

Esfandyarpour, A ; Sharif University of Technology | 2024

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1111/radm.12669
  3. Publisher: 2024
  4. Abstract:
  5. In the current knowledge-intensive economy, a firm's intellectual capital refers to its idiosyncratic internal and external knowledge-related assets. While technological knowledge is a major constituent of intellectual capital, past research has often equated it with technological capability. However, technological capability includes not only codified knowledge, but also tacit know-how that is not captured by formal intellectual property. We argue that while a firm's patents might serve as a proxy for measuring its base of technological knowledge, they are not a good proxy for a firm's technological capabilities. Therefore, we offer a novel approach based on a machine learning technique to capture a biopharmaceutical firm's technological capabilities using the clinical trials that it carries out. Picturing a hypothetical journey where firms transform and exploit technological knowledge to move towards building technological capabilities, we address a research gap on the link between a firm's depth and breadth of technological knowledge on the one hand, and its technology diversity on the other. Analyzing a sample of 204 biopharma firms from 2006 to 2018, we find a positive relationship between the breadth of technological knowledge and technology diversity in a firm. In contrast, the relationship between the depth of technological knowledge and technology diversity is negative. We also find that in the presence of product/market diversification, the positive relationship between the breadth of technological knowledge and technology diversity is stronger. Implications for research and practice are also discussed. © 2024 RADMA and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  8. Source: R and D Management ; Volume 54, Issue 4 , 2024 , Pages 864-881 ; 00336807 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/radm.12669