Technological Alliances and Innovative Performance in the Aerospace and Defence Industry

Through technological supplementary alliances, high-tech firms reach unexpected synergies in innovation activities and rationalize innovation process. Technological complementary alliances may allow firms to overlap the possible lock-in effect which characterize supplementary alliances and enhance partners to break with existing rules, norms and routine. In high-tech and science-based industries, where breakthrough innovations impose the combination of generic or basic knowledge and science with applied research, cooperation agreements with universities emerge as an ideal source of specialist knowledge. Innovation requires new approached to problem resolution, and original recombination of technologies and resources. In high-tech industries, by engaging and being embedded in wide and heterogonous networks of partners and resources, firms strengthen their creativeness and innovative output.