This article presents a review of the literature that focuses on the role played by information asymmetry in the management of innovation. Results are organised in two categories. On the one hand, information asymmetry is considered as a major source of market failures because it affects the quality of innovative goods and services available on the market and disturbs the process of allocating resources efficiently. On the other hand, information asymmetry is presented as a major source of market opportunities, the latter existing only because individuals do not possess the same -exhaustive and complete sets of -information. Therefore, information asymmetry plays a dual role as it both generates market failures and gives birth to entrepreneurial opportunities. Within this framework, the article discusses the main implications of managing innovation under asymmetric information.

PurposeThis article aims to identify the capabilities supporting the development of collaborative innovation within knowledge‐intensive environments.Design/methodology/approachRe‐considering the history of the ARPANET project as a vivid example of collaborative innovation, the article presents qualitative research from a historical case.FindingsWithin this framework, the article shows that benefiting from collaboration in innovation entails that the innovative organisation is capable of achieving (at least) the following tasks: to leverage complementarities between internal and external sources of innovation (design capability); to codify, capitalise and disseminate knowledge outcomes (knowledge management capability); and to align product and organisations in a dynamic way (adaptive governance capability).Research limitations/implicationsThis contribution is limited by looking at a single case. On the premise that model generalization depends on extensive empirical data, the current article should be considered as preliminary/exploratory research that aims at identifying the capabilities supporting collaborative innovation within knowledge‐intensive environments.Originality/valueThe originality of this article is to look at a historical case to elaborate on a typology of collaborative innovation capabilities.

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In this article, we investigate the development of a business ecosystem by focusing on the knowledge processes associated with the various phases of its lifecycle. Specifically, we ask: What knowledge processes are involved in the birth, expansion, leadership, and renewal phases of a business ecosystem, and how are these processes linked together to shape its lifecycle? To address this research question, we build on a case study of a nearfield communication (NFC) platform ecosystem, which is considered to be an innovative network centric organizational form. The findings reveal three knowledge processes: generation, application, and valorization. Together, these knowledge processes enable the performance of a variety of tasks and activities associated with the distinctive phases of a business ecosystem's lifecycle.

À partir d’une étude de cas historique, cette contribution explore les conditions d’émergence du premier « écosystème d’affaires » : l’écosystème des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC). Le cas concerne le projet de déploiement du premier réseau de communication et de partage de ressources numériques entre ordinateurs géographiquement distants : ARPANET (pour « ARPA NETwork »). Contrairement à la majorité des travaux qui considèrent que les écosystèmes d’affaires sont le résultat de l’action stratégique de « firmes pivots », l’hypothèse défendue dans cette contribution est que l’écosystème des TIC est né d’une rupture technologique portée par une communauté d’organisations publiques et privées, notamment des chercheurs, les grandes firmes commerciales étant reléguées à la périphérie.