MERCK Research Project
The MERCK Foundation has recently granted IERG $550,000.00 to research the lifecycle development of IP-rich Australian firms as they innovate, globalise and grow.
Our objective is to understand the process of innovation and globalisation relevant to IP-rich companies, and examine how these processes intersect and evolve over time. We consider every stage of the lifecycle and how they inter-relate and impact each other, from identifying an invention or idea, recognising commercial opportunities, quests for financing, growth management, to possible exit strategies such as trade sales. This long-term perspective is imperative as researchers - and, indeed, companies themselves - are often involved only in a particular time period, rather than the entire process.
We investigate four industries:
- biotechnology,
- advanced manufacturing,
- clean technologies, and
- creative industries (digital media and e-publishing).
We have selected companies within these industries and tracked their progress from the very start of their lifecycle - typically, from the initial idea that sparked the innovation - over the course of their commercialisation efforts to their global expansion.
People
Project sponsor
David Anstice, MERCK
Senior academic advisor
Lead researchers
Researchers
The project has involved both fully funded and part-time research assistants, including;
- Dr. Maria Rumyantseva
- Dr. Tatiana Anisimova
- Dr. Lisa Hewerdine
- Jarrod Ormiston
Publications, presentations and working papers
Recent research includes;
- Hewerdine L. and C. Welch, "Innovation-Led Internationalisation: Understanding the Internationalisation Process of High-Tech SMEs", International Business Research Symposium, University of Adelaide, 23-24 November, 2010.
- Rumyantseva M. and R.G. Seymour, "Linking Exploration with Exploitation: An Extended Model of Technology Commercialisation Process", Working Paper, February 2011.
- Rumyantseva M., Seymour R.G. and J. Ormiston, "Reorganising Energy Market: Green Technologies Commercialisation in Australia", the 27th EGOS Colloquium, Gothenburg, Sweden, 7-9 July 2011.
- Seymour R.G., Ormiston J. and M. Rumyantseva, "Australian Draft Report on SME Innovation and Intellectual Asset Management in Creative and Selected Manufacturing and Services Industries", Tabled to the Working Party on SMEs & Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE) Informal Steering Group on SME and Entrepreneurship Innovation and Intellectual Assets, Paris, 15 November 2010.
- Webster C., Ormiston J., and R.G. Seymour, "Implications of Networks Impacting the Dissemination of Documentary Film", the 27th EGOS Colloquium, Gothenburg, Sweden, 7-9 July 2011.
- Welch C., "Explaining the Internationalisation Process of the Firm: A Critical Case of Process Theorizing in a Hostile Climate", Second International Symposium on Process Organization Studies, Rhodes, 11-13 June 2010.
- Welch C., "Explaining the Internationalisation Process of the Firm: A Process-Based Critique", European International Business Academy annual conference, Porto, 9-11 December 2010.