Business Intellectual Property Protection
Mary Seyer Koen
1992. 253p. Contract awarded in FY 1988 to MO-SCI Corporation,
Rolla, MO 65401.
When small and large enterprises that use the intellectual property protection system are compared, relationships with other organizations are more critical to the small enterprises. Small enterprises have more problems with infringements of intellectual property, with the Freedom of Information Act, and in meeting patent costs-particularly the fees of private patent attorneys. Technology licenses granted and received are more important for the operating income of the small enterprises than that of the large enterprises.
NTIS order number:
PB83-208223
Price codes:
A05 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
The Capital Crunch: Small High Technology Companies and National Objectives During a Period of Severe Debt and Equity Shortages
Judith H. Obermayer
1983. 90p. Contract awarded in FY 1981 to the Research & Planning Institute, Inc., 137 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
02142.
This study assesses the current financial needs of small, high technology companies and the availability of resources to meet those needs. It shows why small companies are less able to cope with a shortage of funds than are large firms.
NTIS order number:
PB81-108425
Price codes:
A08 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
Case Studies Examining the Role of Government R&D Contract Funding in the Early History of High Technology Companies
Judith H. Obermayer
1980. 153p. Contract awarded in FY 1979 to the Research & Planning Institute, Inc., 137 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02142.
Case studies of 33 high technology companies show that government R&D; contracts during the early years were an important source of cash flow in two-thirds of the companies. Nearly half of the companies believed they would not have survived without it.
NTIS order number:
PB84-212067
Price codes:
A06 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 62
Characterization of Innovations Introduced on the U.S. Market in 1982
Keith L. Edwards and Theodore Gordon
1984. 124p. Contract awarded in FY 1982 to The Futures Group,
Inc., 76 Eastern Blvd., Glastonbury, CT 06033.
This study looked at 8,074 innovations in 362 four-digit SIC code industries. There were found to be 2.4 times as many innovations per employee in small firms as there were in large firms. Small-firm technology was twice as likely to be licensed or purchased.
NTIS order number:
PB90-254236
Price codes:
A06 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 139
Financing of Product Innovations by Small Firms: Case Studies in the Medical Devices Industry
John Rapoport
1990. 116p. Contract awarded in FY 1988 to John Rapoport, The
Knolls, South Hadley, MA 01075.
This report summarizes 13 case studies of small firms that introduced new medical device products, mostly between 1975 and 1988. The case studies concentrate on the costs of innovative activity and the sources of financing used by the firms in the time period prior to the introduction of the innovation. Each case includes a narrative description of the firm's origin and early development as well as quantitative estimates of the costs and funds raised.
NTIS order number:
PB93-115145
Price codes:
A03 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 129
Firm Size and External Research Relationships
Albert N. Link and John Rees
[1992]. 50p. Contract awarded in FY 1989 to Link-Rees. 802
Laurelwood Drive, Greensboro, NC 27410.
Firms of all sizes use outside organizations for research and development. This study focuses on how those external relationships, particularly with universities, vary by firm size. It is based on a survey of 209 firms in four industries computer and office equipment (SIC 357), electronic components and accessories (SIC 367), machine tools (SIC 3541 and 3542), and aircraft and parts (SIC 372)--that was conducted relative to their activities in 1986.
NTIS order number:
PB89-134365
Price codes:
A03 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 97
Firm Size and Innovative Activity: A Further Examination
Albert N. Link and Barry Bozeman
1987. 41 p. Contract awarded in FY 1987 to Albert N. Link,
University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC
27412-5001.
This study analyzed, by firm size, the questions pertaining to innovation that were included in an extensive questionnaire administered to an unusually large percentage of industrial firms located in central New York state.
NTIS order number:
Not available from NTIS;
see note at end of entry.
Industry-Supported Microelectronics Research Centers: Cooperation As a Vehicle for Providing Joint Benefits to Firms
Frederick Dana Robinson
1985. 293p. Contract awarded in FY 1981 to Frederick
Dana Robinson, University of Pennsylvania, 3814 Walnut
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
This dissertation is a case study of the industry-supported microelectronics research centers which were established at seven U.S. universities in the early 1980s.
This report is a Ph.D. dissertation available in both paper and microform formats from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Order number 85-15445. For information on ordering, call (800) 521-3042.
NTIS order number:
PB90-233966
Price codes:
A08 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 104
Innovations by Firm Size in Studies of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Keith L. Edwards and William Wallace
1985. 171 p. Contract awarded in FY 1983 to the Futures Group,
Glastonbury, CT 06033.
This study identifies innovations embodied in BLS studies of the employment impacts of technological change. Such studies tend to be concerned with larger groups of employees and with innovations affecting larger firms. Nevertheless, the innovation rates per employee were not significantly different for large and small firms. The innovations of large firms were found to be twice as likely to have no labor impact as those of small firms. Small firms brought innovations to market in 3.36 years, on average, compared with 4.32 years for large firms.
NTIS order number:
PB92-216258
Price codes:
A06 (Paper)
A02 (Microfiche)
RS number: 127
Manufacturing Innovations and Small Business: How Flexible Manufacturing Systems Affect Tooling and Machining Enterprises
Albert N. Link
1992. [105]p. Contract awarded in FY 1989 to Ernst &;Young, 1200
19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036.
This study looks at the reasons for adopting elements of flexible manufacturing, the difficulties small businesses encounter when they do so, and the ensuing effects on sales and profits. It is based on a random sample of 300 members of the National Tooling and Machine Association who were surveyed in 1990. Eighty-five percent of respondents agreed that adopting elements of flexible manufacturing systems increased sales, and 76 percent said it resulted in new customers.
NTIS order number:
PB89-118285
Price codes:
A05 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
Radical Technology, Organization Size, Structure, and Context in the Innovation Process
Albert H. Rubenstein and John E. Ettlie
1983. 76p. Contract awarded in FY 1982 to the international Applied
Science and Technology Association, 2348 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201.
This study focuses on 371 new products introduced primarily since
1978 in the U.S. food, paper, chemicals, rubber, machinery, and
measuring instruments industries. Although small firms
introduced over 50 percent of the new products during the four
years prior to the study, larger firms were more likely to get
awards for their products, to incorporate new technology, and to
introduce products that were the first of their kind. Findings
suggest that funding and personnel necessary to be a radical
product innovator are not usually available to small firms.
NTIS order number:
PB82-226119
Price codes:
A09 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 8
The Relationship Between Industrial Concentration, Firm Size, and Technological Innovation
Earl E. Bomberger
1982. 195p. Contract awarded in FY 1979 to Gellman Research
Associates, 100 West Avenue, Jenkintown, PA 19046.
The study sampled 635 innovations. The sample showed that small firms produce 2.5 times as many innovations per employee, that small firms move innovations to market faster, and that large firms are 2.8 times more likely to have federal R&D support.
NTIS order number:
PB82-190869
Price codes:
A05 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 20
The Role of Patents in the Commercialization of New Technology for Small Innovative Companies
Judith H. Obermayer
1981. 81p. Contract awarded in FY 1980 to the Research ;Planning Institute, Inc., 137 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
02142.
Two-thirds of the small firms surveyed in this study held patents, most holding fewer than 15. Small firms were found to use a smaller percentage of the patents they hold than larger firms. All firms relied more on proprietary know-how and trade secrets.
NTIS order number
PB85-196996
Price codes:
A07 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
Social versus Private Returns to the Innovations by Small Firms Compared to Large Firms
Anthony A. Romeo
1984. 136p. Contract awarded in FY 1982 to the University of
Connecticut, Economics Department, Storrs, CT 06268.
This study focuses on the size of firms as a factor in determining the gap between private and social rates of return to innovation. The authors test the hypothesis that innovations carried out by small firms tend to have a larger gap between private and social rates of return than the innovations carried out by larger firms. The authors hypothesize that if small firms are unable to appropriate fully the economic benefits of their innovations, then these firms face inadequate incentives to undertake the amount of investment in innovative activity that would be socially optimal.
NTIS order number:
PB94-107463
Price codes:
A06 (Paper)
A02 (Microfiche)
RS number: 138
A Survey of Innovative Activity
Earl E. Bomberger
1993. 102p. Contract awarded in FY 1983 to Gellman Research
Associates, Inc., 115 West Avenue, Jenkintown, PA 19046.
This research sought to ascertain the total number of small firm innovations, look at the geographic significance of small firm innovations, and examine the roles of different types of innovations. Its findings are based on about 300 responses to a mail survey that was conducted in 1989. The study found that 21 percent of small firms consider themselves innovators. Service innovations were the most numerous at 38 percent, followed by product innovations (32 percent), process innovations (17 percent), and management innovations (12 percent). The smallest firms (those with 1 to 19 employees) created 68 percent of small firm innovations.
NTIS order number:
PB90-127291
Price codes:
A04 (Paper)
A01 (Microfiche)
RS number: 101
Utilization of New Data for the Assessment of the Level of Innovation in Small American Manufacturing Firms
John A. Hansen
1989. 66p. Contract awarded in FY 1986 to State University of New
York, Fredonia, NY.
This study updates a National Science Foundation study by the same
author which found that small firms had 2.1 new products per $1
million in research and development--3.5 times the rate for all
firms. The current study found that small firms have more new
products per dollar of sales and a higher percentage of sales
generated by new products than larger firms. Small firm R&D expenditures as a percentage of sales were half again as great as
those of larger firms and small firms obtained more patents per R&D and sales dollar.