Direct and mediated ties to universities: “Scientific” absorptive capacity and innovation performance of pharmaceutical firms

René Belderbos, Victor Gilsing, Shinya Suzuki · 2015 · Strategic Organization

Summary. Pharmaceutical firms access university knowledge through direct collaborations or indirect ties via biotech intermediaries. The study finds that firms with strong internal scientific capacity benefit more from direct university partnerships, while firms with weaker capacity perform better using biotech brokers—unless those brokers connect to top universities. Success depends on matching a firm's research organization to its knowledge-sourcing strategy.

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Belderbos, R., Gilsing, V., & Suzuki, S.. (2015). Direct and mediated ties to universities: “Scientific” absorptive capacity and innovation performance of pharmaceutical firms. Strategic Organization. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127015604734

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  title   = {Direct and mediated ties to universities: “Scientific” absorptive capacity and innovation performance of pharmaceutical firms},
  author  = {René Belderbos and Victor Gilsing and Shinya Suzuki},
  journal = {Strategic Organization},
  year    = {2015},
  doi     = {10.1177/1476127015604734},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1476127015604734}
}

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Details

DOI: 10.1177/1476127015604734
Countries: Belgium, Netherlands, Japan
Regions: Europe, Asia
Categories: innovation-networks, innovation-theory, general-innovation
Added: 2026-04-28