Intellectual Property Management and Performance of Small Firms: The Concept and Implications of Knowledge Base Homogeneit

This thesis consists of three essays on intellectual property management (IPM). The first essay presents a bibliometric analysis on existing IPM literature, which uncovers the evolution trajectory and underlying knowledge structure of IPM research. The bibliometric analysis also reveals that there is a lack of research on IPM in small firms. Therefore, in the second and third essay, I investigate how small firms should develop their patent portfolios in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. In the second essay, I examine the relationship between small firm's patent portfolio diversity and its ability to form R&D alliances with other firms. In the third essay, I examine the effect of technological distance between alliance partners on small firm's ability to learn through the alliance. Prior research on both topics have generated mixed results. In order to address the ambiguity in existing studies, I take a contingency perspective and developed the concept of knowledge base homogeneity (KBH) by applying bibliometric techniques on patent data.