Centre for Technology Management

Technology acquisition in collaborative new products development based on early stage technologies. Implications for technology partner selection

Research objective

To describe the conditions that enables the effective integration of early stage technologies in co-development projects.

This research is looking at the identification of the issues and factors that may be critical for selecting a technology partner in development projects involving early stage technologies. An understanding of such conditions is key to provide R&D managers, technical directors, and product leaders with guidance to select a right partner and manage co-development projects.

To achieve the aim of this research, a set of co-development projects from different industries are analysed. Projects are studied from the analysis of business drivers to the integration of the technology into the value chain of the acquiring firm.

Research question

When companies work in collaboration to develop a new product:

• How can the conditions that lead to the effective implementation of early stage technologies be described?
• and further, how these conditions may affect the technology partner selection?

Expected contribution

The key expected contributions to practice can be summarized as follows:

a) Organisations looking for a partner to carry out a technology project involving an early stage technology will obtain practical information and guidance to select the provider with most potential to develop and transfer the desired technology with minimum risk.

b) Organisations having proprietary technology and know-how looking for a partner to develop a new product will obtain practical information and guidance to select the partner with most potential to acquire and exploit new technologies.

Researcg approach

For the purposes of this research, a case study approach is being used as the primary research method. The research is based on a multiple case design with single unit of analysis. Unit of analysis are technology collaborative projects aimed at either developing new products or improving operational performance. Data collection methods include interviews, documentary analysis and industry workshops.

For further information, please contact Victor Ortiz