Vision, external collaboration, capability, and innovative performance: A study in the telecommunications industry

Technology plays a significant role in the business environment. It empowers organizations to embrace global markets and enables them to competitively commercialize the newest innovations. Each year significant resources are devoted to technology research and development (R&D). Corporate stakeholders and consumers alike are eager for advances in technology, heralded in the form of patents and eventually new products. This study examined firms within the telecommunications industry to survey successful development and production of new products. The study focused on external collaboration relating to internal capabilities and innovative company performance. Performance is defined in terms of new products as well as financial metrics such as return on equity and return on assets.