Benchmarking global strategic management of technology

Extensive data collected from the largest R&D-performing companies in North America, western Europe and Japan reveal that top management linkages of business and technology strategies and external resource leverage are the keys to effective technology strategy. Companies worldwide continue to shift toward acquiring more key technology from outside, relying increasingly upon universities for research and on joint ventures and alliances for development. These and other findings on strategic management of technology arise from a global benchmarking study of approximately 400 companies that account for nearly 80 percent of the R&D expenditures in Europe, Japan and North America. These conclusions reaffirm similar findings from the author's 1992 global survey.