Task assignments to foreign R&D laboratories

In a recent study of industrial research laboratories, it was found that they need to meet four necessary conditions to be successful (Brockhoff, 1997). Adopting a resource-based view, it is suggested that the conditions result from building four potentials, namely: (1)a potential to identify possibly relevant technological knowledge outside of the company in question,(2)a second potential to absorb whatever knowledge has been identified as relevant and to make use of it,(3)a third potential to develop creatively new ideas on the basis of the available knowledge (which is a primary source of unique competitive advantages), and(4)finally an internal transfer potential. The last potential allows the new knowledge to become known and accessible to departments further down in the value chain.