Choose Foreign R&D Partners From Right Pools: A Synthesis Framework

To complement the extant research of R&D partner selection that is fragmented, we develop the synthesis framework to provide a holistic view for the foreign R&D partner selection process. In this framework, we integrate the strategic motive, the learning strategy, the R&D partner selection, and the institutional contingency altogether and adopt the classification of stakeholders to suggest firms the pools of potential candidates in which they can effectively select their suitable R&D partners in the host countries. By examining the 2,423 outbound FDI cases of Taiwan from 2009 to 2012, we find that firms pursuing the technology acquisition will adopt the exploratory learning strategy and be more inclined to choose their R&D partners from their external stakeholders; but this inclination will be mitigated when the host countries are full of institutional voids. Nevertheless, firms pursuing the market expansion may not necessarily adopt the exploitative learning strategy as the prior research suggests but, instead, may undertake the exploratory learning and, furthermore, partner their external stakeholders when the host countries are full of institutional voids.