Comment on The Role of the Firm’s Internal Technical Entrepreneurs in Commercializing Technology From The Federal Laboratories

Abstract

Professors Geisler and Rubenstein [p. 155] give us a sobering view of technology transfer. Based on their survey of existing research, in much of which they have been personally involved, and on their personal experiences with corporations and federal laboratories, they voice concern about “the complexity of the transfer process between federal laboratories and industry.” Later they say “At best, successful tech transfer in the firm, even between operating units of the same firm, is a low probability event.” The reasons for low probability are found throughout their paper, and add up to an imposing set of impediments within firms and laboratories alike. They observe that a corporate entrepreneur is present in most instances of successful transfer, and may well be a “necessary” condition for success, though probably not a “sufficient” condition. Their paper explores the reasons, and derives a set of prescriptions for labs and firms that hope to succeed in technology transfer.