Inventors are not alike: the distribution of patenting output among industrial R&D personnel

From theoretical work, as well as from empirical findings on the distribution of scientific performance, we can deduce that there are also great variations in the output of industrial research and development personnel. By analyzing the patenting output from research and development personnel, we are able to measure their technological performance. The inventor portfolio provides a method to measure and identify key inventors. Key inventors are characterized by a large number of patent applications which are of high quality. This paper presents the results from an empirical study that analyzes the distribution of the patenting output of inventors working in the chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering industry in 43 German companies. The findings of this study suggest that the technological performance of inventors defined by the number and quality of filed patents is highly concentrated. In particular, a very small group of key inventors is responsible for the major part of the company's technological performance, and thus for the company's competitiveness. These findings, in turn, have major practical implications for human resource management in industrial R&D departments.