The virtual enterprise and the sources of technology in discontinuous innovation

While there is recognition that technological advance is at the heart of the ability to introduce discontinuous innovation, most studies have not directly addressed the scope or characteristics of the technological contribution, or the management of the sources of the technological contribution. This paper focuses on identifying sources of discontinuous innovation, particularly with respect to internal and external technical alliances and how to manage the formation and productivity of technology partnerships. The initial findings of our study highlight the importance of virtual R&D organization for discontinuous innovation. A working model of virtuous virtual R&D for discontinuous innovation is presented.