Technology Management in a Knowledge Based Economy

In the first paper Anne Quaadgras builds and analyzes the emerging radio frequency ID (RFID) ecosystem based on announcements of alliances among firms, and analyzes propositions with respect to the behavior of large, multiline technology firms around this innovative, technology based platform. The RFID network is used to empirically show that absorptive capacity, and exploration vs. exploitation theories may start to explain the behavior of large firms. Quaadgras shows that a propensity to form alliances in general makes it more likely that large established firms will join the RFID ecosystem, and that more exploratory firms join earlier. Greater availability of slack resources also leads to the formation of more alliances (greater degree centrality) in the network. The ecosystem perspective and these results may affect alliance decisions have implications for alliance decisions of firms entering into high cost technological innovations.