Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 2012
  • Article
  • Management Science

Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages

By: Juan Alcacer and Minyuan Zhao
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world's R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multilocation firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide. Strong internal links across locations allow these firms to leverage knowledge for competitive advantage without risking critical knowledge outflow to competitors. We examine whether multi-location firms increase internal ties when they face appropriability risks from direct competitors. Our empirical analysis of the global semiconductor industry shows that when leading firms co-locate with direct market competitors, innovations tend to be quickly internalized and are more likely to involve collaboration across locations, particularly with inventors from the firm's primary R&D site. Our results suggest that R&D dynamics in clusters are heavily influenced by multi-location firms with innovative links across locations and that future research on technology innovation in clusters should account for these links.

Keywords

Multinational Firms and Management; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Technology

Citation

Alcacer, Juan, and Minyuan Zhao. "Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages." Management Science 58, no. 4 (April 2012): 734–753.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Juan Alcacer

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • December 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution

    By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney
    • December 2022 (Revised January 2023)
    • Faculty Research

    Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth

    By: Juan Alcacer and Adina Wong
    • November 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Introduction to the RC Strategy Course 2023

    By: Juan Alcacer
More from the Authors
  • Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney
  • Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth By: Juan Alcacer and Adina Wong
  • Introduction to the RC Strategy Course 2023 By: Juan Alcacer
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College