Innovation cycles impacting network effects on R&D cooperation project’s value creation

Within the field of innovation in business network several authors raised the need for more research into the forces of innovation and efficiency. These divergent and convergent forces run together (Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2002) and can have often opposing effects on innovation outcomes (Waluszewski, 2011a, Hoholm and Olsen, 2012). Therefore, in this paper we will analyze the divergent and convergent network effects taking place in R&D cooperation projects. We investigated the combined effects of technology development, resource heterogeneity, complementarity, and actor jointness on value creation in cooperative R&D projects. Our study showed in the first place the different and opposing network effects on value creation. Secondly, it showed that the network effects are influenced by cycle of technolgy development that is controlled by the policy makers selection of projects. Finally, it showed that efficiency and innovation forces are build up from multiple network effects that can not be assigned to one of the ARA layers.