نقش واسطه ها بر مدیریت ریسک تکنولوژیکی و عملکرد توسعه ی کسب و کار در کره

This paper examines the strategic use of intermediaries by companies to better meet their technology needs from the resource-based theory and network theory perspectives. The results of this study are based on a sample of Korean IT companies and indicate the particular importance of cooperation with government support organizations and public R&D institutions in building relational assets. Intermediaries played a crucial role in enabling and facilitating joint development projects and promoting technology transfer among the companies in general. The results of this study suggest that intermediaries, as they are linked to other organizations within networks and are centrally situated within those networks where information and resource flow, can coordinate and control the exchange of information and resources within networks and enjoy timely and privileged access to such information, giving them the means to expand their strategic social capital.

R&D cooperation is essential for companies to meet the increasingly complex technological requirements of today's marketplace and to cope with the fast-evolving industrial environment. Companies draw technological capabilities from both internal and external technology sources. Tapping various external technology sources is often necessary for companies to build the capabilities they need to remain competitive. External technology sources include universities, public research institutions, outside companies (competitor and non-competitor), and customers. According to a cross-sectional study by the OECD, the expanding R&D cooperation among the OECD member states of the European Union has increased the importance of interaction with external organizations for achieving company growth [1]. Cooperation involving technology transfer, as an external partnership for R&D and joint technology development, provides new market opportunities and, just as importantly, access to technological knowledge that cannot be obtained by internal means alone. It is a mode of intercompany cooperation based on exchange. Technology transfer and cooperation are different from general commercial transactions, because the companies cooperatively share intangible assets (i.e., technologies) for mutual benefit. It is more important in terms of the technological risk management in the initial stage of business development and that is the background of the participation by intermediaries in this partnership of the technology transfer. The term “intermediaries,” in the context of R&D, refers to groups such as industry associations and academic societies with research manpower that are capable of leading technological innovations and that can play a central role between governments and industries, as well as among companies, universities and research institutions. In Korea, intermediaries are still in the early stages of development. For this reason, their role is still not clearly understood, and the level of their participation remains quite low. Although there are many research groups and associations in Korea that match the profile of an intermediary, the level of their activities as intermediaries has been quite modest; their role in driving innovations, at least up to now, has been negligible. This, therefore, calls for more active networking efforts to build a systemic cooperation system that can better tap the intermediary potential of these organizations, as well as an effort to stimulate their activities as intermediaries. This paper examines the role of intermediaries on the R&D performance of companies and explores the ways in which their technological capabilities can be linked to technology development from the network theory perspective, which also incorporates the perspectives of the resource-based theory and the transaction cost theory. An important objective of this study is to provide appropriate business strategies for collaborative technology development that consider relational factors among cooperating companies.

This study examines how companies can make a strategic use of intermediaries to better meet their technological needs from the perspectives of the resource-based theory and the network theory. The results of this study, based on a sample of Korean IT companies, indicate the particular importance of cooperation with government support organizations and public R&D institutions in building relational assets. These intermediaries played a crucial role in enabling and facilitating joint development projects and promoting technology transfer among the sample companies. The results of this study support the theory that intermediaries, as they are linked to other organizations within networks and are centrally situated within those networks where information and resource flow, can coordinate and control the exchange of information and resources within networks and enjoy timely and privileged access to such information, giving them the means to expand their strategic social capital [42]. However, the role of the intermediary with respect to the technological development performance was shown in the study to be limited; the relevant coefficients were positive but insignificant. It is still possible for intermediaries to be established as valued actors in networks for the improvement of technology development performance of companies. In order to realize this possibility, the technology developer or supply-oriented consultocracy may need to be abolished. Companies in cutting-edge fields such as IT (Information Technology) and BT (Biotechnology) have a stronger need than others to acquire specialized technological capabilities through participation in R&D cooperation networks and to achieve the economies of scope and networking. This is because companies in high-tech sectors are required to flexibly respond to the external environment by cooperating with outside companies and building mutually beneficial relationships with them in order to gain competitive advantages. The results of this study suggest that a company should make a strategic choice concerning the types of cooperative relationship it needs to make to effectively strengthen its technological capabilities. The company should emphasize cooperative arrangements to effectively manage its external environment (i.e., product, technology, and market-related environment), to enhance its production capacity and manpower development, and to cope with competition by improving its product development performance. This study does not provide suggestions on methods to build relationships with external organizations or to devise cooperative arrangements for enhanced technology acquisition performance. In addition, the sample size was relatively small, and the survey was perception-based construct that relied mostly on the views of company executives, producing results that may not be adequately quantitative or objective. Future research may be warranted to improve upon this study by examining a larger and more diverse sample of companies, employing a more objective method of measuring technology performance, and providing specific recommendations for strategic decision making.