技術創新發展的過程會造成整個產業大環境的改變，在內外部環境不斷改變下，企業如何掌握技術領先與強化產品效能以增加其競爭優勢是非常重要的一個議題。本研究試圖以專利分析來了解目前自行車變速器廠商研發技術之現況，並針對其贊助車隊於自行車三大賽事中的成績與其企業專利指標之間的關係做進一步的探討，分別從專利數量與專利品質的分析中歸納出企業技術強度與研發能耐能彰顯在產品效能上，進而提高競賽的成績。
本研究擬以變速器大廠SHIMANO、SRAM與 Campagnolo作為研究對象，蒐集2007-2011年三大賽事中三家公司其贊助車隊之成績以及三家公司五年內的專利資料，以專利地圖中公司別分析對各公司進行各種專利競爭指標的探討。另外，透過專利分類號分析來觀察三家公司主要發展技術領域之差異性，以及投入研發的重點，探討企業發展整體技術的趨勢。
研究結果發現自行車變速器套件的研發技術與產品效能之消長趨勢一致，企業能從研發深度以及研發廣度兩大層面做加強，有效掌握核心技術進而持續不斷的發展新技術。除此之外，企業能藉由研發能耐的提升以吸引合作廠商的目光，增加企業價值與提升市場佔有率。
最後，本研究亦發現自行車變速器零組件的一級研發戰區為變速器手把與變速器三大件，企業可以根據市場的重要動態來訂定技術發展之策略，並且投入資源來發展這兩項相對重要的技術領域以取得同業競爭優勢。

Technological innovation and development often bring about substantial changes in the entire industry. Under circumstances where changes are incessantly taking place in both the internal and external environments, it has become a major issue as to how an enterprise may take hold of leadership in the technological field and strengthen product performance in order to bolster its competitive advantages. This study attempts to understand the current status of research and development (R&D) among bicycle transmission manufacturers through patent analysis and further investigates the correlation between corporate patent indicators and the score results of cycling teams that are respectively sponsored by the aforesaid manufacturers. From the number of patents and the patent quality analysis, it is concluded that the technological intensity and the R&D capacity of an enterprise could manifest themselves in product performance, which would in turn improve the results of competitions.
This study, on one hand, collects the score data of the three cycling teams that are respectively sponsored by our research subjects - SHIMANO, SRAM and Campagnolo - from the annual cycling events during 2007 to 2011. On the other hand, the patent data over the last five years are also collected from those bicycle transmission manufacturers so that the patent map analysis can be conducted to investigate the various indicators of patent competitiveness across individual manufacturers. Meanwhile, in order to investigate the overall trend of corporate development, differences in the major fields of technology development among the three manufacturers as well as the investment focus in R&D are also observed through patent classification.
The research results show a consistent correlation between the R&D techniques of bicycle transmission parts and the product performance. Hence, an enterprise could improve the depth and breadth of its R&D capacity to effectively master the core technology and continue the development of new technologies. Through the enhancement of R&D capacity, an enterprise could, at the same time, attract the eyes of potential cooperative partners to increase corporate value and expand its market share.
Last but not least, this study finds that the top ranked warzone for the R&D of bicycle transmission parts lies in the transmission handles and the other three types of major transmission components. An enterprise may formulate its own technological development strategy according to market dynamics and commit resources to the development of the two relatively important fields so as to obtain competitive advantages within the same industry.

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