Intra-firm Global R&D Networks of US IT MNCs as a Source of Competitiveness: Focusing on the Polar Comparison of Google, IBM and Canon

Since the end of the twentieth century, creation and transfer of knowledge beyond “time & space (border)” have been promoted like never before in two forms: intra-firm and inter-firm networks, mainly due to the evolution of ICT based on digital and software technology. In the new R&D paradigm, the competitiveness of the company in the global market is determined by whether or not the company succeeds in building a global network created by bringing up for the R&D capacity both of the home country and overseas subsidiaries. In that sense, elucidating the nature of global R&D networks by the company is an important issue. However, previous research on global networking of R&D activities have been biased towards qualitative and empirical rather than quantitative analysis. Therefore, after overviewing the internationalization of R&D activities for eight US IT companies, the paper examines Google, IBM, and Japanese Canon to visualize and clarify characteristics of intra-firm R&D networks quantitatively based on some indicators of network theory such as density and centrality.