臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.1

Choose Foreign R&D Partners From Right Pools: A Synthesis Framework 102 and Lundan, 2008; Gil et al., 2006; Kim and Hwang, 1992; Santangelo and Meyer, 2011; Shi et al., 2001) or human capitals (e.g., Beamish, 1987; Dong and Glaister, 2006; Hitt et al., 2000; Luo and Tung, 2007; Randøy and Dibrell, 2002). The technology-seeking motive pushes firms to acquire innovative ideas, processes, technologies, and specialized R&D that firms do not own (e.g., Dunning and Lundan, 2008; Gil et al., 2006; Hagedoorn, 1993; Luo and Tung, 2007; Santangelo and Meyer, 2011; Williams, 1992), to undertake the basic or applied research (Hagedoorn, 1993), or to upgrade their existing technologies (e.g., Dong and Glaister, 2006). The client-following motive makes firms follow their customers to foreign markets for providing local supports in productions or services (e.g., Dunning and Lundan, 2008; Erramilli and Rao, 1990; Gil et al., 2006) in order to protect the existing business relationships. The mutual-forbearing motive (e.g., Kim and Hwang, 1992) implies that firms enter foreign markets to attack or threaten their current competitors in order to maintain the competitive status quos. Among these five motives, the market-seeking, client-following, and technology- seeking ones are likely to have firms involved in the foreign R&D activities. Following clients abroad implies that firms seek for new market opportunities indirectly along with their existing customers by providing products, productions, delivery and services locally. Thereof, this study includes the client-following motive in the broader market-seeking category. Firms directly or indirectly pursuing new markets will be likely to transfer and exploit their existing technologies or resources in the host countries. Although such exploitation is cost-effective, it may not fit the local demands; localization with technological adjustments to some extent is required. As Belderbos (2003) claims, the foreign R&D will follow the overseas expansions with product/production adaptations and local improvements of firms’ existing technologies. Therefore, in this study focusing on the R&D collaborative context, we coin the market expansion and the technological acquisition as the two main strategic motives of foreign entry. Expanding markets is for surviving, growing, or servicing customers. Such a purpose will lead firms to exploit their existing advantages in the host countries, or to locally obtain the human or technological resources and market-specific knowledge by themselves or via collaboration in order to sell their products or services. Under this motive of market expansion, firms seeking for R&D collaboration may put foci on the improvement and localization of their existing technologies, products or services. Acquiring technologies implies that firms may be less competitive in their technologies and unable to upgrade their technologies alone, or that firms may intend to