Projects in progress

At BCIM, our endeavour is to inculcate a culture of innovation in India, even at the grassroot levels. To take the innovation agenda forward, the centre has undertaken the following research projects:

WORKING PAPERS

Learning By Exporting: To Whom Does The Benefit Accrue? New Evidence From Indian Pharmaceutical Industry
Anand Nandkumar, Charles Dhanaraj, and Chirantan Chatterjee

The paper explores how differences in process and product R&D capability, influence the extent of Learning by Exporting (LBE). We theorize two underlying processes that simultaneously influence LBE - while absorptive capacity plays a dominant role at lower capability levels, the diminishing returns to process and product R&D takes place at the higher capability levels. Using a novel dataset of Indian pharmaceutical producers between 1994 and 2007, we find that, exporting per se, results in enhancements to a firm's technical efficiency.

Patently Different?  How Does the Strength of Patents Influence Globalization of R&D?
Anand Nandkumar and Kannan Srikanth

In this paper, using a unique natural experiment that relates to the recently enacted patent reforms in India, the authors contribute towards understanding how IP regime strength influences the division of labor in technology generation activities within a firm but across different locations.

Licensing-in technology markets: How the strength of patents influence firm strategies and competition? Empirical evidence from the 2004 Indian Patent Reforms
Anand Nandkumar

The TRIPs mandate that seeks to harmonize patent laws the world over, has been heavily debated especially by developing countries on the basis that stronger patents are likely to increase market concentration and prices. Contrary to this notion, using the recently initiated patent reforms in India, we show that stronger patents can actually increase competition. Building on the literature on Markets for Technology (MFT), we build a model that identifies conditions under which stronger patents can actually stimulate competition as opposed to retarding it.  Our empirical results bear out the intuition that on an average, patenting activity increases with stronger patents and even more for multinationals relative to domestic firms and also in greater quantum in disembodied industries relative to embodied markets. Also, as a consequence we show that licensing activity and competition increases with stronger patents and the impact is higher in disembodied industries compared to embodied markets. 

User Manufacturers, Prior Scientific Knowledge, and Disruptive Innovations in the Industrial Robotics Industry.
R Roy and MB Sarkar

We address the question how firms choose which problems to pursue and how they solve those   problems by using their access to in-house users and their pre-existing technological capabilities respectively. Building up on strategy and technological change literature, and using the emergence of a new market in the industrial robotics industry as the context of our study, we find that the firms, with access to in-house users and with access to in-house technological capabilities that can be leveraged in the emerging market, are better able to transition to the emerging technology S-curve than other firms. Curiously, we also find that these firms lag others in extending the S-curve of the existing market.
Status: Revise & Resubmit at Strategic Management Journal.

The Impact of Knowledge Structures on Alliance Formation.
S Yayavaram, M Srivastava, and MB Sarkar

An important reason for forming technological alliances is to learn from partners. In choosing partners for such alliances, firms face an important dilemma. If a partner firm has dissimilar knowledge, then the focal firm may not have the requisite absorptive capacity. At the same time, the partner needs to be dissimilar such that there is potential for learning. We suggest that dissimilarity in how the two firms combine or couple their knowledge elements along with similarity in their knowledge elements is an important way in which these opposing requirements can be met. We test our hypotheses on U.S. semiconductor firms using patent data from 1990 to 2000. Our results indicate that dissimilarities in couplings have a significant impact on the likelihood of formation of alliances.

Duelling Strategies: External Technology Sourcing and Knowledge Protection.
A Wadhwa, I Bodas-Frietas , and MB Sarkar

This paper explores how a firm’s openness in its technology sourcing interplays with its simultaneous pursuit of knowledge protection strategies to enhance innovative performance. We argue that organizational knowledge protection mechanisms such as restricting employee mobility, secrecy and knowledge complexity influence the inverted-U relationship between a firm’s external technology sourcing and its innovative performance. We test our hypotheses on a sample of 2406 French manufacturing firms during 2002-2004 and find that employee retention facilitates firm efforts at capturing value from external technology sourcing, but secrecy and knowledge complexity attenuate those efforts.

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Affordable Innovation: When Do We See It And When Do We Not?
Anand Nandkumar, Charles Dhanaraj, and S Balasubrahmanyam

Over the past few years, while the popular press has highlighted numerous examples of affordable innovations, we have limited knowledge about who is likely to undertake these types of innovations and when. In this paper, the authors answer some of these questions and provide basic theoretical explanation backed by examples.

Patents and diffusion of knowledge – Evidence from Indian patent reforms
Anand Nandkumar and Mridula Anand

In this paper, we show that the static losses from stronger patents can span across geographies. Using a novel identification strategy, we show that the stronger patents in developing countries can influence competition. They, in particular, decrease competition in international markets and as a consequence, result in lower global welfare. We show that the recent Indian patent reforms changed entry patterns in the U.S. generic pharmaceutical industry. By putting a premium on knowledge that was otherwise freely available, the recent patent reforms in India confined entry into larger generic pharmaceutical markets.

De facto and de jure IPR law in India: Are multinationals handicapped? Empirical evidence from Indian IP litigation 1972-2010
Anand Nandkumar, Mridula Anand, and Anusha Sirigiri

While patent laws the world over are typically enacted to incentivize innovation, in the case of India until 2005 they were meant to provide differential incentives to domestic firms in order to develop indigenous industrial capacity.  Given that the multinationals were relatively more capable than the Indian domestic industry, by outlawing product patents, the Indian Patent law until 2005, at least on paper, effectively provided huge disincentives to multinationals about operating in India. However, the law on paper (de facto law) is only as effective as its implementation on ground by the judicial system (de jure law). In this paper, we explore the differences between the de facto and de jure Intellectual Property Regime (IPR) in India with a view to understand how India’s IPR has effectively aided or retarded multinationals in India.

Geography of Innovation India/The Evolving R&D Landscape In India
Anand Nandkumar, Mridula Anand, and Charles Dhanaraj

What is the nature of innovative activity in India? Given its economic and educational background, what are the incentives to innovate in India for MNEs, Indian incumbents, universities and private inventors (entrepreneurs)? To what extent are these innovations systematic — is it an output of endogenous investments undertaken by firms or government? The authors explore the above question in this descriptive paper.

Nature of licensing in India
Anand Nandkumar, Harsha, and Mridula Anand

A look at how downstream capabilities differentially amplify the effect of patent reform. Licensing is a well known firm strategy to utilise its capability and knowledge resource. Adding to the available literature, we look at licensing and its effect on firm capabilities.

A critical assessment of IPR Reforms in India
Mridula Anand and Charles Dhanaraj

This descriptive paper focuses on the markets for technology and licensing in India post IP reforms. Both scholars and domestic firms are keen to note the effects of the much resisted IP reforms in India and this paper takes a critical look at the progress and issues faced by domestic firms post reforms.

BOP innovative challenges and opportunities in India
Mridula Anand and Jaipreet et al.

A descriptive paper on the challenges and opportunities of firms catering to the bottom of the pyramid end users in India with a brief overview of the challenges faced by start-ups involved with the Stanford India Biodesign Institute. The co-authors are students at ISB who have helped collect data on start-ups associated with the Biodesign program serving a large unmet need for various affordable products. It delves into their experience and challenges encountered in developing, manufacturing and marketing these products in India.

Organisation Design for Commercialisation
Nita Sachan, Anand Nandkumar, Charles Dhanaraj, and Rishikesh Krishnan

The paper would address Indian institutional constraints in commercialising science. The paper will be based on assessing five high-research-output Indian research institutions. It will understand organisational structures, incentives to scientists, role of technology-transfer offices, patent issues and finally types of technology to assess the core issues.

Building Capabilities for Risky Research     
Nita Sachan, Charles Dhanaraj, and Rishikesha Krishnan

Indian biopharma firms have improved their R&D capabilities vastly over the several years. The paper will sample the top-ten innovative firms’ histories of R&D capabilities. It will also assess how some Indian firms have learnt from priors and built capabilities over time to undertake high-risk innovation. The paper will also address the innovation landscape pre and post-TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) as an incentive to undertake high-risk innovation.

IPR and Price Competition in Indian Generic Industry
Anand Nandkumar and Ram Bala

The goal of this project is to understand how the recently enacted patent reforms in India affected competition in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Using a chronic disease segment (diabetes), we intend exploring how the patent reforms influenced competition in the patented drug and generic segments in the diabetes market.

BOOKS

India Innovation Handbook
Mridula Anand and Charles Dhanaraj

A comprehensive Innovation Handbook to better the understanding of Indian geography of innovation. In addition to the usual contact details and key areas of work and publications, the directory covers details related to research budgets, collaborations, patents, talent details, rewards and recognitions systems, etc. The directory serves not only as a source of general information but also as a database for innovation researchers. The book also will be available in the digital format.

Building an Innovation Nation
Charles Dhanaraj and Rishikesha Krishnan

This book aims to bring together ideas of artists and scientists, technologists and business folks, academia and corporate, school teachers and university professors who attended the Innovation Educators’ Conference at ISB on April 29-30, 2011. It will not only capture the thoughts of the invited speakers but the issues, challenges, and solutions that have emerged during brainstorming with 250 delegates. This book is a tribute to the authors’ collective passion towards building an innovation nation.

India R&D 2011 – ‘Industry Academia Linkages’
Charles Dhanaraj, Rishikesha Krishnan, and Nita Sachan

FICCI in partnership with Department of Science & Technology, and ISB organized a two day conference on Nov 2 & 3, 2011, in New Delhi, where CLIC was the knowledge partner. The objective of the conference was to bring industry and academia together to define research priorities.  The conference also delved on ways of creating adequate IP ecosystem and shared learnings from the MNC experience. The conference proceedings will capture the thoughts of the invited speakers.

CASE STUDIES

Embrace Incubators
Mridula Anand and Charles Dhanaraj

“Embrace Infant Incubators” was founded by a group of Stanford University graduates and the case presents an overview of their journey from conceptualisation to commercialisation.
Status: Case tested in class

Glivec: The Novartis Story
Mridula Anand and Charles Dhanaraj

The case deals with IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) infringement in a transient economy such as India. It explores the developing patent regime in India and chronicles the progress and final rejection of the Glivec patent for Novartis.
Status: First Draft

Unique Licensing Partnerships:  The Gilead –Matrix Partnership Model
Nita Sachan Anand Tatambothla and Charles Dhanaraj

Indian Patent Office (IPO) denied the patent for Gilead’s potent HIV-drug Viread. Despite this hurdle, Gilead tied up with 13 local Indian firms to launch the anti-HIV drug in India. The case explores the unique licensing agreement between Gilead and Matrix labs to enhance access to quality medicines without foregoing the profits completely.  
Status: First Draft

Organizing R&D Innovation at Glenmark
Nita Sachan and Charles Dhanaraj

Glenmark presents a unique emerging model of R&D innovation in an emerging market. Despite the lure of money-making generics business, Glenmark embarks on the journey of high-risk innovation.
Status: Final draft near completion

Managing Collaborative Innovations at Biocon
Nita Sachan, Balasubrahmanyam Suram, and Charles Dhanaraj

The case presents three specific alliances of BIOCON with firms across different functional areas — R&D, product development, and marketing. It addresses the challenges that Biocon faces in creating an organizational architecture to deal with the varied alliance partners effectively to maximize profits from both revenue flow and knowledge flow.
Status: In Progress

Ingersoll Rand : “Innovations”: Sustainable Technologies for Emerging Markets 
MB Sarkar and  Pritha Sen

Ingersoll Rand in India has been working with the government, private sector and other public bodies to drive convergence to address issues in food security, energy management, transportation and industrial efficiency. As the economy continues to grow aggressively, it has become important that resources are judiciously utilized and maximized in terms of the impact they will create for the society at the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP).   
The case explores how an MNC strategizes on both technology and market dimensions to innovate on affordable, hi-tech products that meet the unique needs of the underserved customers in emerging markets.
Status: In Progress

Strand Genomics: Entrepreneurial Environment for Biotech Start-ups
Balasubrahmanyam Suram, Nita Sachan, Mridula Anand, and Charles Dhanaraj

Strand genomics was started by a professor of computer science. The case analyses the entrepreneurial mindset and the potential hurdles a biotech start-up has to face.
Status: Concept

Innovation Quest by Dr. Reddy’s Labs: Perlecan Pharma
Nita Sachan and Charles Dhanaraj

In 2005, Dr. Reddy laboratories —in its quest to do innovation-based R&D — floated a subsidiary named Perlecan Pharma. In 2009, the company decided to pull the plug due to doubts over its drug pipeline. The case explores the challenges an emerging-economy firm faces in conducting high-risk innovation.
Status: Concept