Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

William W. Fisher III; Felix  Oberholzer-Gee

Article | California Management Review | Summer 2013

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

by William W. Fisher III and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Abstract

In many organizations, the R&D, strategy, and legal functions are poorly integrated. As a consequence, firms miss opportunities to create and exploit the value of intellectual property. Functional silos are one reason for the lack of integration. More important, however, is the lack of a common framework and even language that would allow engineers, lawyers, and business executives to manage IP assets better. This article provides such a framework. There is no one best way to manage IP, and many managers overestimate the attractiveness of using IP to exert market power. Rather, the value of the various means to protect and benefit from IP depends on firm strategy, the competitive landscape, and the rapidly changing contours of intellectual property law.

Keywords: intellectual property; innovation management; strategic management; knowledge management; legal aspects of business; licensing; Law; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy;

Format: Print

Find at Harvard Read Now

Citation:

Fisher III, William W., and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. "Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach." California Management Review 55, no. 4 (Summer 2013): 157–183.

Jonah Peretti, CEO of digital publishing company BuzzFeed, needs to decide how to respond to Facebook’s announcement that it would prioritize posts from friends over content from publishers.

Market imperfections are central to understanding the mechanisms that permit firms to capture value. Many of these imperfections are competed away when firms struggle to attain and defend competitive advantages, making markets more efficient in the process. The remaining imperfections can become a primary impetus for government intervention. Hence, an understanding of residual market imperfections—those imperfections that persist after market competition and regulation are accounted for—must inform any assessment of the long-term attractiveness of firm strategies. Our framework provides an integrated view of competition and government intervention, two of the principal forces that influence variation in firm profitability.

Strategy, at its core, describes how a company attains superior performance. In industry after industry, there is a wide range in company performance resulting from the various strategies adopted by individual firms. Underneath all of this variation, however, are principles that are straightforward and consistent across industries. This pamphlet outlines these principles to help you set and evolve your company’s strategy. Here we offer a simple and succinct way to think about the sources of competitive advantage. We hope that our way of thinking about why some companies do far better than others is both illuminating and inspiring.

Faculty & Research

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

Abstract

Citation:

About the Author

More from the Author