Technology and Innovation Management

This research line focuses on the study of competitive dynamics and the behaviour of agents in relation to technology, understood comprehensively as knowledge with a practical purpose that promotes the development of innovation. It involves studying the forms (arrangements, mechanisms, and types of intra- and inter-firm coordination) used by companies for acquiring technology, innovation processes, administrative systems implemented for technological training and improvement of production and business operations and the impacts of technology and innovation on sustainable development of economic agents and the economy.

Research topics covered in Technology and Innovation Management 

The topics covered in the Technology and Innovation Management research line are:

  • Technology Transfer, U-E-G Cooperation and Intellectual Property
  • Entrepreneurship and Technology-based Companies
  • Innovation environments (Poles, Parks, Clusters, Incubators)
  • Knowledge and Productivity Spillovers
  • Circular Economy and Innovation
  • Strategic Operations Management and Sustainability
  • Society, Economy and Innovation
  • Networks, Resources and Institutions for Innovation

Technology Transfer, U-E-G Cooperation and Intellectual Property
This research topic aims at a better understanding of the processes of generation and transfer of technology, particularly addressing university-company-government relations, as well as the role of each of these actors in national technological development. In this context, issues related to intellectual property are also addressed.

Entrepreneurship and Technology-based Companies
Entrepreneurial behaviour has proven to be increasingly important for our society, whether it appears when setting up a company or when it reflects the attitude of a professional within an organisation. In this line of research, the theme of entrepreneurship is studied both from the point of view of the academic education required in undergraduate courses and from the profile of companies generated from entrepreneurial action as mechanisms of technology transfer (academic spin-offs).

Innovation Environments (Hubs, Parks, Clusters, Incubators)
In this research topic, institutional arrangements used as mechanisms for technology transfer and regional economic development are studied. Evaluating these mechanisms leads to generating subsidies for public policies and proposing specific actions in order to make them more efficient in achieving their objectives.

Knowledge and Productivity Spillovers
The literature points to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a catalyst for the productivity and efficiency of national companies given the positive effects of knowledge spillovers, so that many governments seek to attract these investments through various incentives. Such productivity spillovers occur because multinational companies tend to be technologically and managerially superior to companies in developing countries. However, such dynamics are affected by a large set of variables, such as the capacity for absorbing knowledge from local organisations, institutional endowments, local productive structures, and spatial proximity, given that the transmission of knowledge tends to be geographically limited. Analysing the knowledge of such dynamics in more depth in the Brazilian context is extremely relevant considering the importance for increasing productivity and competitiveness of national companies.

Circular Economy and Innovation
The circular economy encompasses a repairing and regenerating productive model in which human needs are met via products and services designed or redesigned to eliminate the generation of waste while minimising negative impacts. In this context, the objective of this topic is to study how the aspects of strategic management concerning innovation are influenced or can influence the construction of this new paradigm. It involves qualitative and quantitative studies on drivers and barriers, innovation management models, sustainable innovation strategy, sustainable portfolio management, sustainable innovation indicators, measurement systems in the individual, supply chain and economy contexts, among others.

Strategic Operations Management and Sustainability
This main objective of this topic is to study how sustainability issues influence and interfere in the various elements of strategic management of organisations. It involves qualitative and quantitative studies on drivers and barriers, strategic posture and strategy, strategic alignment, measurement systems and goals and control, management practices, levels of maturity, and impacts on organisational performance, among others.

Society, Economy and Innovation
Approaches to the relationship between science, technology and society; The dimensions of class, gender and race in the social construction of technology; Conflicts of interest in techno-scientific development; Impact of new technologies on employment, work organisation, the economy and the environment; Understanding the different social actors in the field of innovation, such as: the State, universities, companies, unions, people and social groups.

Networks, Resources and Institutions for Innovation
The study of the relationship between networks, resources, institutions for innovation; Influence of the relationships and structure of social actors in the distribution of resources; influence of institutional levels for innovation. Study of individual and collective innovation behaviour; Study of individuals, the interaction of social actors and institutional changes for innovation; Problems concerning asymmetric information, power, conflicts, agency, skills, transaction costs, resources, institutions and other explanatory elements of innovation.

Faculty members teaching in Technology and Innovation Management

The permanent faculty members that comprise the Technology and Innovation Management research line are:

Specific courses in Technology and Innovation Management 

The courses that support the Technology and Innovation Management research line are:

Research Group of faculty members in Technology and Innovation Management

The Technology and Innovation Management line of research comprises lecturers from the Technology Management research group (GeTec in Portuguese).