PROFILES OF CORPORATE TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES - A COMPARISON OF LARGE BRITISH AND GERMAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES

This paper analyses corporate technological capabilities and trajector ies of large German and British firms in the science-based pharmaceuti cal industry. An index of relative technological advantages based on p atent statistics is used to assess whether the corporate development o f technological competencies is predominantly influenced by the countr y-specific environment or by industry-related forces. The evidence sug gests that national factors have led to a higher degree of cohesion in German trajectories than in British ones; however the industry-specif ic impetus appears to dominate the technological development. This pap er also maintains that technological diversification remains closely l inked to firm size. Findings here are consistent with results of recen t studies which suggest that the nature of recent technological change has been characterised both by increasing inter-relatedness of techno logical activities and by consolidation of existing technological comp etencies. It is argued here that an ''industrial optimum'' of technolo gical diversification exists; firms will over time converge towards it . The smaller pharmaceutical specialists have not yet reached their '' optimal'' balance of technological diversification, and thus continue to diversify. The larger, widely diversified chemical corporations, ho wever; appear to have been consolidating their technological competenc ies to a persistent level of specialisation. These trends are largely independent of the national background (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.