JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY
Year:2017 | Volume:9 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:9

SNowadays, the main assets of the technology-based or knowledge-based companies are intellectual assets. These companies in addition to the management of common tangible assets need to have intellectual property management as their capabilities. Therefore, they should be able to audit their intellectual assets at the first stage. The main question is, which framework is there for the intellectual property management and how to apply and implement it in knowledge-based companies? In considering Biotech in Iran as the pioneer sector in establishing knowledge-based companies, the purpose of this study is providing a whole framework for auditing the management of intellectual assets in knowledge-based companies to identify the status of the intellectual asset management and specifying their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the level of intellectual assets` management in the field of biotechnology knowledge-based companies, some recommendations have been addressed. Survey and content analysis are the main research methods of this study and by interviewing with experts and disturbuting questionnaires within biotech companies, all the data have been collected. The main indicators of intellectual property management audit framework are: the leadership and management competencies of the intellectual assets, the structure of intellectual assets management, Identifying and recognizing competencies of the intellectual assets, the ability of protecting intellectual assets in the organization, the organization's ability to commercialize its’s intellectual assets, and finally the ability of observing and monitoring the competitors’ intellectual properties. After weighting identified factors in the paired comparison, we found that the status of biotechnology knowledge- based companies in the management of intellectual assets is very weak. in order to improve the management of intellectual property in the of biotech companies some recommendations have been deliverd separately to Iran Biotech Inititive Council and the managers of survived companies, finally.

Today, knowledge-based firms play a significant role in the competitiveness of countries and, therefore, attract the attention of policy makers. One of the biggest challenges of survival and growth in these companies is the suitability of financing.  Although different financing instruments are defined for them and various studies have been conducted about these instruments, the major part of these researches are focused on the firm's life cycle. Hence, the variability of instruments on the one hand and differences in the characteristics and performance of the firms on the other hand rise a need to cluster them (firms), based on the factors affecting on the financing, and consequently suggesting the suitable instruments for each cluster. Therefore in this study, financial features have been identified with the help of a questionnaire and their financial statements, also, a cluster analysis has been done with a sample size of 253 Iranian knowledge-based firms. As a result, there is a taxonomy of four types of firms named: New-Comers, Small Manufacturers, Small Service focused firms and Old-timers and suitable financial instruments for each of them are determined. Accordingly, New-Comers have the least choices for financing and Old-timers are faced with a vast range of instruments.  Financing for Small Producers and Small Service Providers are different in some cases such as Warehouse Receipts.

Analyzing major S& T policy making experiences is an important step to be aware of challenges and drawing lessons from policy processes. Based on this, current paper is investigating the law for supporting knowledge-based firms by the well recognized advocacy coalition framework (ACF) over the last decade (from 1386 to 1395). Data needed for this research were gathered by conducting semi-structures interviews with policy participants and content analysis of available policy documents. Results indicate that, there are two main coalitions in this process of which one is supporting vice-presidency for science and technology with a post university approach as main body in charge of executing the law and the other supporting ministry for research, science and technology as well as science, research and technology council's secretariat with a more or less academic approach. The main change mechanisms in this process involve neutral policy brokers and external changes due to the major changes in administration in 1388 & 1392. Practical implications of this paper can be used in future S& T policy making attempts in order to minimize the policy struggles and stalemates.

Nowadays in Iran's economic, often refers to the importance of creation and growth of knowledge-based company and the main purpose of this has been considered to show the position of knowledge and knowledge based products in increasing the competitiveness level of country. Understanding the reasons for the growth of these company can help to managers and policy makers in order to achieve the organizational goals and to formulate effective policies. Many of the researchers in this field have investigated separately role of on individual, organizational, and environmental factors in achieving to growth of knowledge-based company. This study is aimed to identify possible paths for achieving to growth of company that have been covered by approved law in 2010 about protecting knowledge-based company and institutes. In order to achieve this purpose, interviews were conducted with 22 managers of the grown knowledge-based company. Using the thematic analysis, the effective key themes on growth process of these company were identified and using the qualitative comparison analysis technique has attempted to determine the possible paths for achieving to growth. A designed questionnaire has been received from 22 grown company and 8 nongrown company during the 2013-14 years in order to use the qualitative comparison analysis method. Obtained data were analyzed using FSQCA software. Finally, the dominant path for the growth of knowledgeable-based company in Iran has been identified. According to the findings of this research, knowledge-based company will be able to achieve growth based on the two combination paths from effective factors on growth of company, that path based on role of government is more likely to happen.

The cooperation models between small knowledge-based companies and Industrial and economic firms are important for meeting the needs of the larger firms and entering the knowledge-based companies to market. The objective of the research is presenting a framework for developing the cooperation between small knowledge-based companies and Industrial and economic firms based on Guaranteed-Buys method in the context of Iran. The research methodology was Case Study and the interview, literature review and investigation of the statistics and real events created the triangulation in this research. At the first, the nine challenges in the cooperation between small knowledge-based companies and Industrial and economic firms in Iran were identified and thereafter the suggested framework tried to solve these challenges. In the framework, the functions of financing, warranty, capability building, Intermediation, facilitating and policy making, technical capability assessment and relationship were identified and investigated deeply in the context of Iran for intermediaries.

According to many thinkers, production of knowledge-based products and services comprises an essential component of knowledge economy. So that, supporting such economic activities has become a serious concern to governments. In Iran, this movement was fundamentally started by adopting Knowledge-Based Companies and Institutions Support Act of 2010. However, the first step toward realizing this purpose is to identify knowledge-based products and services. As of now, various methods have been presented for this purpose. Meanwhile, implementation of them has faced particular challenges, because these methods have been mainly based on industrial categorizations. This is while, products and services are regarded as the unit of analysis in related laws of Iran. In the present research, an attempt has been made to present criteria for identifying knowledge-based products and services. Classical grounded theory was used to approach this purpose. On this basis, theoretical sampling was performed via purposive judgment method, wherein 26 experts were interviewed. Then the relationship among the resulted concepts was investigated and organized into six constraints for identifying knowledge-based products and services. Finally, findings of this research were compared to the concept of dynamic capabilities and final theory was presented. The theory indicates that, knowledge-based products and services can be identified through investigating dynamic capabilities of majority of manufacturer of these products. Furthermore, the six constraints obtained in the present research were used in the revision process of the knowledge-based companies evaluation code, which was undertaken in 2016, with the criterion of "new companies entrance constraint" added to the knowledge-based companies and institutions qualification code under the title "imitability".