A Case Study Analysis of Typhidot: An Example of Market-Oriented R&D Commercialization in Malaysia

Abstract

Background and objective: despite many empirical studies on the success factors for R&D commercialization in the past few decades, the success rates have not improved significantly. Possible explanations for this could be that the processes involved and how these interact with other components of the commercialization ecosystem at the different commercialization phases are not well understood yet. Market-oriented approach to R&D commercialization was proposed in this study as a possible way of increasing the success rates of commercialization. Materials and methods: the case study approach was proposed to provide insights into the commercialization processes and how these interact with other components of the commercialization ecosystem. Typhidot, an acknowledged market-oriented R&D commercialization was selected for the case study. Results: the findings indicated different challenges at different phases of the R&D commercialization journey and many of the processes at the different phases were iterative in nature. A “Z to A” market-oriented R&D commercialization framework was proposed based on the Typhidot case study. Conclusion: while the “Z to A” approach was important basis for market-oriented R&D commercialization the study also highlighted the strategic choices of scaling up and the impact of the choice on business viability. A wrong scaling-up strategy would influence the diffusion rate and extent of R&D commercialization, which ultimately determined whether it would succeed or fail in the market place.