Technological maturity and research performance: An analysis of RoboCup

R&D contests that aim at promoting research activities in a specific research area have gained popularity in recent years. Witnessing the apparent success of recent cases such as DARPA Grand Challenge and Ansari X-prize,... [ view full abstract ]

R&D contests that aim at promoting research activities in a specific research area have gained popularity in recent years. Witnessing the apparent success of recent cases such as DARPA Grand Challenge and Ansari X-prize, academic researchers have also begun initiating R&D contests, among which this study empirically analyzes the RoboCup, a robot soccer competition that has been held annually since 1997. In the RoboCup, participants (participating teams) compete with one another in several leagues, each of which focuses on specific research challenges and thus differs from others in several aspects such as technological characteristics, resources and skills required for the entry, the competitive environment shaped by the league size and turnover rate of participants. This study examines the research performance of participants and the knowledge flow among them in the light of the ambidexterity theory (Tushman and O'Reilly, 1996) that is intended for firms and organizations. It finds that the participants in the growing leagues exhibit higher research performance than those participating in comparatively matured leagues. The finding suggests that firms (i.e. the participants in this study) develop exploratory capabilities first, then exploitative capabilities and that the capability growth slows down as industry (i.e. league) grows mature.