What Makes Foreign Knowledge Attractiveto Domestic Innovation Managers?

This study focuses on the early stages of international innovation activities, i.e. theorganizational processes through which promising ideas from around the globe are collectedand evaluated. We ask: What characteristics make foreign knowledge interesting to domesticR&D managers? We envision this process as a balancing act between direct transaction costsfor communication and coordination and indirect transaction costs from overlooking ormisinterpreting important global trends. These hypotheses are tested through a conjointanalysis among 158 heads of R&D departments of German high-tech firms. We find thatuncertainty avoidance is the most important driver. Radically new ideas from dynamicmarkets are most attractive and must not be overlooked. Complementarities with existingknowledge stocks and low language barriers are also important but to a lesser degree.Interestingly, we find no distinction between market and technological impulses.....