Re-developing Knowledge Creation Capability: Innovating in Indian Pharmaceutical Industry under the TRIPS-Compliant Patent Regime

Abstract

With the advent of globalisation, the ability of firms, enterprises, or countries to develop appropriate responses to change by transforming capabilities has emerged as one of the central areas of research in management science. In the globalised era, the ability of firms to renew or reconfigure existing competencies and create new knowledge for innovation has emerged as a strategically important capability (Dosi Technical change and economic theory. Pinter Publishers, 1988; Pavitt British Journal of Management, 2:41–50, 1991; Teece et al. Technology, learning & innovation: Experience of newly industrialising economies. Cambridge University Press, 1997). Despite the emergence of more comprehensive firm-level studies during the mid-1990s (e.g. Kim Technology, learning and innovation: Experience of newly industrialising economics. Cambridge University Press, 2000; Figueiredo Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(3):607–643, 2003), comparative analysis of learning and capability accumulation in firms from developing countries has been absent in this research stream.

In the case of firms from developing countries, the economic, political, and social complexities make the transformation of capabilities a challenging and difficult process. In this context, the Indian pharmaceutical industry provides us with informative case studies to explore the development of innovative process capabilities by resource-constrained firms operating in emerging countries.