From Invention to Innovation: Toward Developing an Integrated Innovation Model for Biotech Firms^*

Abstract

A review of extant literature reveals various theories on innovation, including technology push, market pull, and an organizational approach. All of these theories have been criticized for their lack of integration and inapplicability to today's competitive environment. An integrated view of innovation has emerged that synthesizes the variables in previous approaches. However, the application of this view has been restricted to investigating the innovation processes within the computer and manufacturing industries, whereas the biotechnology industry has been ignored. This is despite biotech managers' well-acknowledged thirst for innovation and the ability of biotech to shape the way we live. The present article contributes to the literature by applying an integrated approach to the biotech industry, thereby extending understanding of innovation management beyond the traditional field of inquiry. An integrated approach is of particular relevance to biotech companies, given the complexities of managing the industry's long development cycle and intense collaborative activities. In-depth interviews with eight organizations in Maryland formed the basis for an investigation into the challenges of managing the innovation process in biotechnology firms. The findings revealed that biotech entrepreneurs are ill prepared to lead their organizations through several transformations necessary along the product life cycle because of their fixation on a technology-push approach and lack of an understanding of integrated innovation. These leaders also lack the commercialization knowledge necessary to push products to markets, resulting in avoidable delays and loss of productivity. The existing research has dispelled myths associated with biotech. Specifically, it suggests biotech entrepreneurs cannot rely solely on inventions but must invest in a timely application of knowledge to organizational and market forces to take full advantage of the innovation potential associated with the industry. This article presents a conceptual framework for applying the integrated innovation model to biotech firms and makes the case for incorporating market-oriented mechanisms, building and using appropriate organizational capabilities, developing effective collaborations, and creating parallel interactions as major elements in a general strategy toward the success and improved efficiency of biotech companies. The limitations of current research are discussed, and avenues are highlighted for much-needed future research into the biotech industry.Ã The authors would like to thank blind reviewers for their useful comments, Erran Carmel and Alberto Espinosa for their aid in developing the interview procedure, and Lisa Schamess for editorial assistance.

Marketing Innovation Influences on Market and Customer Related Performances: Evidences of Korean Manufacturing Companies

“…This result also supports the discussions carried out by the studies that advocated the strategic and proper maintain and use of innovative capabilities (e.g. Cohen and Levinthal, 1990;Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 2000;Khilji et al, 2006;Noble, 1999). Thus, if a company's innovative capability increases, it becomes more likely that the company will decide marketing innovation activities.…”

“…Knowledge exploitation process is not so much distinguished between inside and outside of a company. So the ability of knowledge exploitation is a key value for innovative capability (Khilji et al, 2006;Lane et al, 2006). In terms of product development, innovative capability is seen as a company's ability to develop new products.…”

“…New product development requires the ability of aligning strategic innovative orientation with behaviors and processes (Wang and Ahmed, 2004). In terms of marketing, however, innovative capability is related with matching inventions with a context of a final market (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990;Khilji et al, 2006). Marketing is connected with the overall processes of corporate activities, and particularly more concentrated on the response to consumers' needs and contacts.…”

The Role of Internal and External Sources of Knowledge in the Product Lifecycle in Biotechnology Sector

“…The innovation process in biotechnology is usually presented as a set of sequential activities (Hall and Baghchi-Sen, 2002). This linear model demonstrates neither the interactions of various determinants of innovation nor their influence on the firm's performance (Hall and Baghchi-Sen, 2002;Khilji et al, 2006). However, the real innovation process is more complex and iterative, and various interactions thus need to be investigated in the PM context in order to reveal all of its complexities and interdependencies.…”

“…Loop B2 in Figure 1 shows that as the firm invests more in R&D, it will have less money to introduce a new product into the market, which causes a decrease in the available funds and subsequently impacts the amount of investment for future research (Khilji et al, 2006).…”