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Innovation is defined as the development and implementation of new ideas by people who over time engage in transactions with others within an institutional order. This definition focuses on four basic factors (new ideas, people, transactions, and institutional context). An understanding of how these factors are related leads to four basic problems confronting most general managers: (1) a human problem of managing attention, (2) a process problem in managing new ideas into good currency, (3) a structural problem of managing part-whole relationships, and (4) a strategic problem of institutional leadership. This paper discusses these four basic problems and concludes by suggesting how they fit together into an overall framework to guide longitudinal study of the management of innovation.organizational effectiveness, innovation

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Y-Minnesota, U S A .Alliances and similar cooperative efforts are receiving increased attention in the strategic management literature. These relationships differ in signijicant ways from those governed by markets or hierarchies, and pose very different issues for researchers and managers. In this paper we address alternative forms of governance in cases where multiple organizations repeatedly cooperate. We explore their I characteristics and follow this with a discussion of criteria which we believe bear on the choice of governance: risk and reliance on trust. We offer propositions on relationships between these criteria and the choice of governance mechanisms. In the concluding section of the paper we explore the implications of our analysis for managers and scholars.Rapid changes in technology, the competitive environment, firm strategies and other pressures are prompting many firms to seek continuing cooperative relationships with other firms. These joint efforts are seen as expeditious ways to keep pace, especially when the firm is seeking unique and pioneering resources. But why are firms engaging in such repeated, contract-based transactions of idiosyncratic assets with the same organization when received theory (see, generally, Coase, 1937;Williamson, 1975Williamson, , 1985 predicts that they should be using hierarchical arrangements? Powell (1987) suggests that these firms are pursuing a diverse set of business objectives that require cooperation because they involve reciprocal dependencies. The contract-

We examine three related ways in which the gap between theory and practice has been framed. One approach views it as a knowledge transfer problem, a second argues that theory and practice represent distinct kinds of knowledge, and a third incorporates a strategy of arbitrage-leading to the view that the gap is a knowledge production problem. We propose a method of engaged scholarship for addressing the knowledge production problem, arguing that engaged scholarship not only enhances the relevance of research for practice but also contributes significantly to advancing research knowledge in a given domain.