Trends and Drivers in R&D Location

Knowledge creation processes of technology-based companies have become increasingly global. The pioneers of R&D internationalization are high-tech companies operating in small markets and with little R&D resources in their home country, as it is the case for ABB, Novartis and Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), Philips (Netherlands) or Ericsson (Sweden). These companies increasingly perform R&D in foreign research laboratories abroad. Companies such as General Electric and General Motors in the USA, Toyota and Fujitsu in Japan, and Daimler in Germany with large home markets and a substantial domestic R&D base were less forced to internationalize their R&D activities. Only in recent years, the increased competition from within and outside their industries has forced these companies to source technological knowledge on a global scale.