External Innovation Implementation Determinants and Performance Measurement: A Case Study from the Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract

With an increasing amount of externally sourced innovations, a major success factor for innovation-dependent indus- tries such as the pharmaceutical industry is to successfully implement innovations from outside. Existing frameworks emphasize creating a strong climate for implementation by developing the learning capabilities of the organization, but there is still much to be learned about the process of implementing innovations that have been in-sourced by companies. As a research setting that is particularly innovation-driven and not well-studied yet, this study examines the key deter- minants for innovation implementation based on a case study in the pharmaceutical industry. The results of 25 expert interviews and a survey with 67 respondents led to the resulting framework and a corresponding performance meas- urement system. The results reveal the importance of supporting systems and show differences in perception of early and late Research & Development functions.