When to commit more to a technological entry: Evidence of the follow-up patenting action of bearings manufacturers

• Published in: Journal of engineering and technology management Vol. 31; pp. 1 - 20
• Main Authors: Wu, Hsueh-Liang, Lee, Cheng-Yu, Lin, Jung-Ching
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.01.2014; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Asset specificity; Bearings; Follow-up patenting; Innovations; Investment; Knowledge base; Learning; Learning speed; Management; Manufacturers; Multilevel; Studies; Technological deepening; Uncertainty; L250; Technological deepening; L640; O320; D810; Asset specificity; Learning speed; Follow-up patenting
• ISSN: 0923-4748; 1879-1719
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jengtecman.2013.10.003

While consistently making forays into new domains is common practice, a follow-up action represents a greater realization of the value of a prior entry. Subsequent to technological entries into new domains, why and when to follow up, in terms of a follow-up patenting action in the newly entered domain, is relatively sidelined in the technology management literature. This paper departs from the knowledge-based view on follow-up patenting action to the moderating roles of competitive intensity and learning speed in order to explore persistent innovation behavior under uncertainty. In a sample of 474 technological entries of fifteen top bearings manufacturers during 1990–2004, the study serves as a multilevel account of the interplay between patent, firm and field. Our results show not only the contrasting influences of a firm's knowledge depth and breadth on its propensity to follow up on prior entries but also the boundary conditions of such causal relationships. As a response to the recent call for more empirical inquiry into the dynamics of R&D investment, our evidence identifies the theoretical sensitivity of the knowledge-based view to contextual factors and sheds new light on the complex nature of follow-up patenting, particularly when firms are subject to external uncertainty caused by competitive rivalry and internal uncertainty due to learning speed.