Background: In the Internet of Things (IoT) firms, innovation beyond the border of a company is important. Furthermore, advantageous positioning in the innovation network is thought to enhance the result of innovation and ultimately contribute to profit. Objectives: The objective of this research is to clarify empirically the influence of the network structure among companies on innovation in the IoT field. Method: In this research, the relationship between the network structure and the result of innovation was analysed through social network analysis. Joint application patents related to the IoT companies were extracted from the intellectual property database. Results: As a result, the difference in the network structure of a company was related to the result of research and profitability. In particular, a company with a platform type of business model is considered highly profitable in the IoT business field. Conclusion: Drawing on an intellectual property database and employing social network analysis, this research quantifies the structure of innovation networks in terms of the results and operational efficiency of R&D.

KEY WORDS

social network analysis, innovation, Internet of Things (IoT), joint application patent

CLASSIFICATION