High technology: biopharma and IT

Abstract

This chapter examines cooperative strategies in the biopharma sector and then in IT. In the latter case, it focuses primarily on software production. These industries are archetypical of the knowledge-based and high-tech sector in which innovation is a key competitive factor. The increasing use of an open innovation approach makes cooperation, especially through a range of networked links, an appropriate strategy to follow. The chapter examines different types of alliance commonly found in the biopharmaceutical industry, and then continues by indicating the tensions that can arise between partners because of specific differences of interest, issues over intellectual property, and an imperfect cultural fit. It then turns to cooperation within the large and diverse IT sector. The focus is on alliances within the IT industry, as well as collaborations between IT firms and those in other industries, including life sciences. Again, different variants of cooperation are identified.