The Impact of the Product Generation Life Cycle on Knowledge Valorization at the Public Private Research Partnership, the Centre for BioSystems Genomics

• The impact of the product generation life cycle on knowledge valorization.
• Public private research partnership Centre for BioSystems Genomics is researched.
• Short versus long product generation life cycle companies (tomato versus potato).
• Tomato firms value basic research and communication support.
• Potato companies value networking and technological development support.

The present paper aims to address the impact of the product generation life cycle (PGLC) on knowledge valorization in public private research partnerships (PPRPs). Data were collected from participants in the Centre for BioSystems Genomics (CBSG), a Dutch PPRP program in the plant breeding sector. In total, 15 commercial partners participated in the study, 7 with a relatively short PGLC of 5 to 6 years, active in the tomato sector, and 8 potato partners, having a very long PGLC of up to 25 years. The results show a clear relationship between CBSG's valorization support activities and the level of knowledge utilization by the participants, although the preferred type of support activities differs between the potato and tomato companies. Firms with a long PGLC, having a higher complicacy of the R&D process, require more basic research support and extra communication tools that help to bridge the gaps caused by the long duration of the development process. Companies with short PGLCs, being challenged to keep development time of new products as short as possible in order not to miss out on market opportunities, value the PPRP most for the networking possibilities and as provider of the latest technological developments.