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Paper info: The relational capabilities of R&D collaboration

Title


The relational capabilities of R&D collaboration

Authors


Tuomas Huikkola, Juho Ylimäki and Marko Kohtamäki

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 28th IMP-conference in Rome, Italy in 2012.

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Abstract


Building on a resource-based theory and analyzing relational capabilities in the R&D collaboration context, this paper examines what relational capabilities firms possess in a dyadic R&D collaboration. We apply a qualitative comparative case method to analyze seven dyadic R&D service interactions which were selected from quantitative data. To identify the cases, we clustered relationships with two average variables: 1) the breadth of the R&D service offering in the relationship and 2) the extent of relational learning in the relationship. The study’s results indicate that within a relationship, the firms develop and nurture various complementary and distinctive capabilities to develop trust, promote innovations, decrease information asymmetries and transaction costs. From the supplier viewpoint, our results highlight supplier’s need to develop processes to identify its customers’ key decision-makers and to interact effectively, thus creating a platform for comprehensive R&D collaboration. Customers highlighted the importance of value in supplier interactions and consider relational structures as means to enable valuable interactions. By investing in dyadic relationship-specific assets, combining the distinct capabilities of the parties and creating common relationship-specific processes, procedures and practices, the firms could create relational capability. Relational capabilities led to increased trust and reduced relational transaction costs. This paper contributes to the literature by developing a model on relational capability, which considers relational capability as a sum of the firms’ complementary capabilities, relationship-specific investments, processes, structures and practices.