Collaboration, competition and innovation: a consortium of tribology in the automotive sector

Abstract Paper aims The collaboration among competitors represents a substantial challenge for most innovation processes of companies. This research aims to explore the factors influencing collaboration for innovation that involves competitors in the Fuzzy Front End phase. Originality This study provides an important advance in three aspects. First, it brings outstanding contributions to the process of generation of ideas and knowledge in a context that involves collaboration and competition simultaneously. In addition, the research examines how this has evolved over time, which were the main difficulties, which were the most significant barriers and necessary efforts to mitigate them. Another important contribution was learning generated on how to work ideas and opportunities in the Fuzzy Front End phase of innovation. Finally, it contributes to the identification of the main roles of Universities in this context. Research method The findings from a detailed case study on a Brazilian University-industry consortium in the automotive sector are presented. Main findings The results indicate a concentration of companies in three main groups with very different operations: the group related to the ring and cylinder lubrificantion system, the automakers and Universities. Implications for theory and practice The main practical and theoretical contributions of this research is exactly the pioneering nature with regard to automakers working collaboratively.

摘要：研究目的
竞争对手间的合作，对多数企业的创新流程而言是一项重大挑战。本研究旨在探究在创新模糊前端（Fuzzy Front End）阶段中，涉及竞争对手的创新合作的影响因素。

创新性
本研究在三方面实现了重要突破。其一，针对同时兼具合作与竞争属性的场景下的创意与知识生成流程，本研究作出了突出贡献。此外，本研究考察了该场景随时间的演化历程、主要难点、核心障碍，以及用以缓解这些障碍的必要举措。另一项重要贡献在于，明确了在创新模糊前端阶段如何落地创意与发掘机遇的相关经验。最后，本研究有助于识别大学在此场景中的核心角色。

研究方法
本研究呈现了针对巴西汽车行业大学-产业联合体的详尽案例研究所得出的结论。

主要发现
研究结果显示，企业集中于三类运营模式差异显著的群体：即活塞环与气缸润滑系统相关企业、汽车制造商，以及大学。

理论与实践启示
本研究的主要理论与实践贡献，恰恰在于其针对汽车制造商开展合作的开创性探索。