New Networks of Technological Creation in Energy Industries: Reassessment of the Roles of Equipment Suppliers and Operators

Energy industry companies have succeeded in maintaining and even increasing their production of knowledge during the last 15 years (1985/1998) within a financial context of reducing their in-house R&D expenditures. To understand these apparently paradoxical changes, elements of analysis are sought within an evolutionary framework, and especially referring to the related developments to network-firms, user-supplier relationships, and interactive nature of innovation processes. Empirical data are provided on patents granted to a sample of the top 15 world largest companies, both operators and equipment suppliers, and for the oil production and power generation industries. Interpretation of the results suggests that two dynamics ought to be distinguished. On the one side, dynamics of the networks of technological creation are characterized by a movement upstream of the head of the network towards suppliers. On the other side networks of creation of competitive advantages and bargaining power continue to be based on the operators and their strategies of adaptation to the constraints and opportunities of their institutional, financial and competitive environment.