ABSTRACT

Quite a number of earlier studies have found that the majority of new technology-based firms are spin-offs from existing organizations, usually established in the geographical neighborhood of the parent (Dorfman 1983; Roberts 1991; Saxenian 1994; Sternberg 1996; Keeble 1997; Lindholm Dahlstrand 1997, 2001; Lindholm Dahlstrand and Dahlander 2003). Since established corporations are responsible for a large amount of R&D in many industrialized regions and countries, they are also likely to play a key role in evolving new technologies and future growth. However, even though knowledge-intensive organizations such as large technology-based corporations and universities are often found as sources of technological innovations, they have frequently demonstrated difficulties in realizing or exploiting the full value of such innovations (Abernathy and Utterback 1978; Pavitt 1991; Bower and Christensen 1995; Rivette and Kline 2000). Reasons for this may be:

a financial, e.g. they cannot find the capital to explore further; b organizational, e.g. the present organization is not suitable for exploitation; or c related to opportunity recognition, i.e. the established firm cannot see an

underlying opportunity that may be appropriated with its resource-base.