Interorganizational transfer of knowledge: an analysis of patent citations of a defense firm

Although technology is considered to be a strategic asset for an organization, interplay in technology among organizations is necessary. Technology may be considered to be a bank to which organizations both contribute and draw. Such interactions among organizations in technology follow different patterns. The authors present some preliminary results from a study addressing this issue. By using patent citation data, they show how the benefits to participating firms change with industry type, organization class, country of origin, etc. By observing who has been cited by McDonnell Douglas and who has cited patents assigned to McDonnell Douglas, the authors have quantified the flow of technical knowledge. The analytical method considered has yielded some interesting results in quantifying the knowledge exchange process between a defense contractor and other firms