Twenty-third International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

The success of biotechnology companies is determined by their capacity to develop, internalize and manage several types of knowledge that enhance their competitiveness. The complex interdependence between these various areas of knowledge is little researched in the extant literature, as most articles focus on market and scientific knowledge, neglecting the importance of relational knowledge. We posit that relational knowledge is paramount, as, on the one hand, it contributes to an effective collaboration between the scientific and business groups/cultures active within the organization, and, on the other hand, to the initiation and deployment of inter-organizational agreements and alliances. To investigate the development of relational knowledge in biotechnology organizations, and its inter-dependence with scientific and market knowledge, we collected and analyzed data about 30 biotechnology firms, 15 located in the UK and 15 in France, using multiple interviews with the top management team, and participant observation of internal personnel meetings and inter-organizational events. The results indicate interesting differences between the investigated firms: if for the UK companies the main source of relational knowledge is the Committee of Non-Executive Directors, in French organizations the main depository and transmitter of relational knowledge is the CEO – usually a highly-respected scientist and academic, who mobilizes his/her personal and professional network to obtain necessary information, resources and inter-firm collaboration. This difference is probably determined by organizational size, maturity and culture, because most French biotechnology firms that reach medium size also adopt the Non-Executive Directors’ Model, in order to further diversify and professionalize their relational capabilities.