Management Papers

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of this Version

3-2014

Publication Source

Strategic Management Journal

Volume

35

Issue

3

Start Page

317

Last Page

337

DOI

10.1002/smj.2098

Abstract

We bridge current streams of innovation research to explore the interplay between R&D, external knowledge, and organizational structure–three elements of a firm's innovation strategy which we argue should logically be studied together. Using within-firm patent assignment patterns, we develop a novel measure of structure for a large sample of American firms. We find that centralized firms invest more in research and patent more per R&D dollar than decentralized firms. Both types access technology via mergers and acquisitions, but their acquisitions differ in terms of frequency, size, and integration. Consistent with our framework, their sources of value creation differ: while centralized firms derive more value from internal R&D, decentralized firms rely more on external knowledge. We discuss how these findings should stimulate more integrative work on theories of innovation.

Copyright/Permission Statement

This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: [Arora, A., Belenzon, S., & Rios, L.A. (2014). Make, Buy, Organize: The Interplay Between Research, External Knowledge, and Firm Structure. Strategic Management Journal 35, no. 3: pp. 317-337], which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2098.

This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving: https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing-open-access/licensing/self-archiving.html

Keywords

decentralization, organizational structure, mergers and acquisitions, patents, R&D, market value

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Date Posted: 25 October 2018

This document has been peer reviewed.