Knowledge Management in Research Joint Ventures

New knowledge (especially technological knowledge) is viewed as the foundation for innovation, change, and sustainable competitive advantage. Today, there is no doubt that knowledge is one of the most strategic weapons that can lead to achieving competitive success (Grant, 1996). The primary role of research and development (R&D) within organizations is to create new knowledge or recombine existing knowledge in order to innovate and match with the changing market conditions. Roussel, Saad, and Erickson (1995) suggest that the only real product of R&D is knowledge. Thus, the R&D process is knowledge intensive: it not only uses existing knowledge but also creates new knowledge, which provides competitive advantage to the firm. Historically, firms organized R&D internally and relied on outside contract research only for relatively simple functions or products (Mowery, 1983; Nelson, 1990). From this point of view, firms adhered to the following philosophy: Successful innovation requires control. Chesbrough (2003) expresses this idea stating that companies must generate their own ideas that they then develop, ABSTRACT