The role of partner communication on cooperative R&D between SMEs and public research institutes in Korea

Cooperative R&D activities between SMEs and public research institutions (PRIs) in Koreahave increased recently. The Korean Government encourages PRIs to promote technologicalcollaboration with SMEs to overcome limitations in the R&D capabilities of SMEs. However, there is limited research on R&D collaborations between SMEs and PRIs. Thispaper examines the role of communications on cooperative R&D between SMEs and PRIsin Korea based on a survey of 173 Korean SMEs. Empirical results show that contractclarity and communication intensity associated significantly with the outcome of cooperativeR&D that positively reflected the high-context culture of Korea. Communication intensityshowed a significant moderating effect on the relationship between power asymmetry andthe performance of cooperative R&D. Communication intensity also exhibited a moderatingeffect between information asymmetry and the performance of cooperative R&D. Therefore,frequent and intensive communication activities between cooperative R&D partners canfacilitate technological knowledge exchanges, such as complex and tacit knowledge, thatcan help overcome organisational conflict.