As suggested in Chapter 2, the most important organizational form that emerged in the biotechnology industry is that of the new biotechnology firms (NBFs) or, alternatively titled, dedicated biotechnology firms (DBFs). The emergence of this form has attracted many scholars, who gave various explanations for it. The present chapter will introduce the concept of new organizational forms, and will illustrate this by use of a few examples of organizational structures that aim at enhancing learning and knowledge creation in the biotechnology industry. The first part of this chapter (based on Oliver & Montgomery (2000)) suggests an account of NBFs as a new organizational form. Further, the chapter introduces additional new forms for conducting biotechnology research, such as consortia, university spin-offs, and incubators, and will highlight their central internal features.

NBFs

The biotechnology industry is characterized by the emergence of a new form of knowledge organization: NBFs. In the early stages of this industry, the new form was developed through a creative collaboration between leading scientists and venture capital entrepreneurs to capture the new opportunity (Kenney 1986; Kornberg 1995). In this way, venture capital provided the mechanism for introducing the new technologies important for future economic growth. This direction of organizational evolution is consistent with the observation of Van de Ven et al. (1989) that environmental niches do not preexist but are constructed through a continuous interaction of entrepreneurs and organizations toward the establishment of new organizations which take advantage of underutilized and non-redundant opportunities of a “structural hole” (Burt 2005).