Type of innovation dependent on choice of partner
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 08:00
in Mathematics & Economics
(Phys.org)—When companies want to innovate, they may choose to collaborate with other companies. Thijs Habets of the University of Twente's IGS research institute looked into the collaboration between complementary companies and between companies and their suppliers. Complementary companies provide different services or products to the same customers (coffee and coffee makers, for example). Habets's conclusion is as follows: when complementary businesses collaborate, innovation flourishes. However, collaboration between a company and its suppliers results in quicker innovations that can be taken to the market more rapidly.