Knowledge interactions in science-based industries: The Vienna biotech/pharma case

Since new scientific knowledge is especially relevant for competitiveness in science-based industries, knowledge is considered as the most strategic resource for such firms. However, innovation-relevant knowledge is often not found within the boundaries of a single organization. Thus, firms need to absorb, create and exchange knowledge as the generation of new knowledge usually results from interactive and collective processes. A taxonomy of such interactions has been proposed by Tödtling and Trippl (2007), differentiating between market links, formal networks, knowledge spillovers and milieu effects. Due to different institutional framework conditions, however, organizations may widely differ in the way they make use of these knowledge interactions. This Master thesis aims at valuing the importance of these channels of knowledge interaction for different organization types, namely university institutes, research organizations, dedicated biotechnology firms and large diversified firms. To explore this issue, a case study of the Vienna biotech/pharma sector is performed. The data for the empirical investigation are collected through in-depth interviews with organizations identified through a network analysis of European research collaboration networks. The findings of the study provide new insights into organization-type-specific knowledge sourcing strategies in science-based industries: Large diversified firms mainly rely on market relationships and internal resources, although formal networks are gaining importance. In contrast, dedicated biotechnology firms heavily rely on formal as well as informal network relationships to source knowledge externally. University institutes and research organizations see themselves as providers of knowledge to the industry. For them, Network relationships within the research sector represent the major channel not only to source but also to jointly create new knowledge.