NIST GCR 06-889 - Findings from the Advanced Technology Program's Survey of Joint Ventures
6. ATP-supported Joint Venture Projects are More Ambitious than Other Industry R&D Initiatives and Technically More Difficult than Typical Company R&D Projects
For a proposed ATP project to receive funding, it must demonstrate a high degree of innovation and technical risk. The Survey of ATP Joint Ventures explores the degree to which ATP-funded joint venture projects are more ambitious relative to other R&D initiatives in the industry and more technically difficult relative to typical R&D projects at the company.
| Survey Questions |
- Relative to other R&D initiatives in your industry, how ambitious would you say were the goals identified for the joint venture project overall?
- Consider the technical difficulty of your company's part in the joint venture project, how does this project compare to a typical R&D project at your company?
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Note: Only statistically significant results are reported in this publication.
ATP-funded joint venture projects are more ambitious than other industry R&D initiatives and more technically difficult than typical company projects (see Figure 6.1).
- More than eight in ten respondents stated that their ATP joint venture projects were more ambitious
relative to other R&D initiatives in their industry.
- Seven in ten respondents stated that their ATP joint venture projects were more technically difficult
relative to other R&D projects in their company.
Figure 6.1 - Comparison of the amibitiousness of the ATP-funded project relative to other industry R&D initiatives and comparison of technical difficulty of ATP-funded project relative to a typical R&D project at the company |
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Smaller joint ventures were more likely than larger joint ventures to report that their projects were more ambitious than other R&D initiatives in their industry.
- Respondents representing joint ventures with 2 partners as well as those representing joint ventures with 6 to 10 partners were more likely than those representing joint ventures with 11 or more to view their ATP-funded projects as more ambitious than other R&D initiatives in their industry (see Table 6.1).
Table 6.1 - Percent of respondents who indicated that their ATP-funded projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry |
| Number of joint venture partners |
Percent of respondents who indicated that their joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry |
| 2 partners |
90% |
| 3 to 5 partners |
80% |
| 6 to 10 partners |
86% |
| 11+ partners |
69% |
The majority of small, medium, and large companies reported that their projects were more ambitious than other R&D initiatives in their industry.1
- The majority of all groups of respondents representing small, medium, and large companies reported that their ATP-funded projects were more ambitious than other R&D initiatives in their industry, with small companies reporting the lowest percentage (see Table 6.2).
Table 6.2 - Percent of respondents who indicated that their ATP-funded joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry, by comapny size |
| Size of Company |
Percent of respondents who indicated that their joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry |
| Small Companies |
72% |
| Medium-size companies |
86% |
| Large companies |
88% |
Respondents across different ATP technology areas differed in their reports of how ambitious their ATP-funded joint venture projects were relative to other R&D initiatives in their industry.
- Respondents representing Chemistry & Materials projects were more likely than those representing Manufacturing projects to state that their joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D initiatives in their industry (see Table 6.3).
Table 6.3 - Percent of respondents who indicated that their ATP-funded joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry, by technology area |
| Technology area |
Percent of respondents who indicated that their joint venture projects were more ambitious than other R&D projects in their industry |
| Chemistry & Materials |
88% |
| Biotechnology |
89% |
| Electronics & Photonics |
83% |
| Information Technology |
76% |
| Manufacturing |
76% |
Smaller joint ventures were more likely than larger joint ventures to report that their projects were technically more difficult than typical R&D projects at their company.
- Respondents representing joint ventures with 2 partners were more likely than those representing joint ventures with 3 or more partners to view their ATP-funded projects as more technically difficult than typical R&D projects at their company (see Table 6.4).
Table 6.4 -Percent of respondents who indicated that their ATP-funded projects were technically more difficult than typical R&D projects at their company |
| Number of joint venture partners |
Percent of respondents who indicated that their joint venture projects were technically more difficult than typical R&D projects at their company |
| 2 partners |
85% |
| 3 to 5 partners |
72% |
| 6 to 10 partners |
70% |
| 11+ partners |
44% |
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1. For ATP, small companies have fewer than 500 employees, large companies are Fortune 500 companies, and medium size companies are all others.
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Date created: August 2, 2006
Last updated:
September 1, 2006
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