Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation

Hargadon, Andrew

doi:10.1016/s0191-3085(02)24003-4

Cited by 474 publications

(385 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Moreover, the greater the diversity of sources the firm has access to, the more likely it is that the insights gained from these sources are recombinable in creative and valuable ways (Hargadon, 2002). Anecdotal evidence from Kaplan (1998), Kleiner (1996) and Whitsett and Yorks (1983) suggests that external parties often play a critical role in the early stages of introducing new management practices and Birkinshaw et al (2008) likewise stress the role of external actors in the management innovation process.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The technology innovation literature focuses on actors like lead customers and suppliers (Utterback, 1994), as well as on a more diverse set of external knowledge sources as a driver of innovation (e.g., Hargadon, 2002; Katila and Ahuja, 2002). By using more knowledge sources firms increase their chances to find something useful -they draw from the pool of knowledge more often, which improves the odds of being lucky, and they stand a greater chance of gaining access to complementary knowledge because of the diversity of sources they consult (Leiponen and Helfat, 2005).…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By using more knowledge sources firms increase their chances to find something useful -they draw from the pool of knowledge more often, which improves the odds of being lucky, and they stand a greater chance of gaining access to complementary knowledge because of the diversity of sources they consult (Leiponen and Helfat, 2005). More contacts with knowledge sources should therefore lead to more insights into new management practices that have worked in other settings and hence to more successful implementations.Moreover, the greater the diversity of sources the firm has access to, the more likely it is that the insights gained from these sources are recombinable in creative and valuable ways (Hargadon, 2002). Anecdotal evidence from Kaplan (1998), Kleiner (1996) and Whitsett and Yorks (1983) suggests that external parties often play a critical role in the early stages of introducing new management practices and Birkinshaw et al (2008) likewise stress the role of external actors in the management innovation process.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The sources of management innovation: When firms introduce new management practices

Mol

Birkinshaw

2009

Journal of Business Research

567

556

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Management innovation is the introduction of management practices new to the firm and intended to enhance firm performance. Building on the organizational reference group literature, this article shows that management innovation is a consequence of a firm"s internal context and of the external search for new knowledge. Furthermore the article demonstrates a trade-off between context and search, in that there is a negative effect on management innovation associated with their joint occurrence. Finally the article shows that management innovation is positively associated with firm performance in the form of subsequent productivity growth.Key words: Management innovation, management practices, performance, knowledge sources 3 THE SOURCES OF MANAGEMENT INNOVATION: When Firms Introduce New Management PracticesThe phenomenon of innovation continues to attract enormous interest among management scholars. Beyond the ubiquitous technological and product innovation, a number of subfields have emerged, concerned with aspects of innovation, such as business model innovation (e.g., Markides, 1997), service innovation (e.g., Gallouj and Weinstein, 1997) and process innovation (e.g., Pisano, 1996). This article focuses on one subfield, namely management innovation (Birkinshaw, Hamel, and Mol, 2008) and its antecedents in and consequences for individual firms. Hamel (2006;2007) in particular has forcefully argued that in today"s age management innovation may represent one of the most important and sustainable sources of competitive advantage for firms because of its context specific nature among others. That makes any study into this topic particularly relevant for practice but also important from the perspective of the study of sustainable competitive advantage, a key domain of strategic management and other academic areas.For some researchers, management innovation refers to a practice or structure that is "new-to-the-state-of-the art", meaning that it has no known precedent (e.g., Chandler"s (1962) description of the invention of the M-Form structure); for other researchers, management innovation refers to something that is "new to the firm" and is adapted from another context, such as a peer firm (e.g., Zbaracki, 1998). Each approach has its own body of literature and, while both fit under the banner of management innovation, it is to the latter body of literature this article contributes. This research defines management innovation as the introduction of management practices that are new to the firm and intended to enhance firm performance. 4 The introduction of new management practices is an important issue for firms as they seek to upgrade their productivity, improve the quality of customer offerings and retain competitiveness (Ichniowski, Shaw, and Crandall, 1995;Pil and MacDuffie, 1996). Policymakers see such practices as important drivers of sector-level or national improvements in productivity.For example, the DTI Innovation Survey and "Porter Report" (published in 2003) highlights the poor adoption of ...

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Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The sources of management innovation: When firms introduce new management practices

Mol

Birkinshaw

2009

Journal of Business Research

567

556

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“…Yet research on absorptive capacity and associative learning has shown that it is easier to absorb diverse knowledge and generate new ideas when source and recipient share some common (not diverse) knowledge base (Ahuja, 2000;Cohen & Levinthal, 1990;Reagans & McEvily, 2003). Paradoxically, then, although the diversity of knowledge and information available across boundaries is necessary to spur innovation (Hargadon, 2002), it simultaneously raises obstacles to successful knowledge sharing and integration (Tushman, 1977: 590 -591).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Activating Cross-Boundary Knowledge: The Role of Simmelian Ties in the Generation of Innovations

Tortoriello

Krackhardt

2010

AMJ

511

410

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In this article, we study the conditions under which having ties that span organizational boundaries (bridging ties) are conducive to the generation of innovations. Whereas previous research has shown that bridging ties have a positive impact on innovative performance, our analysis of 276 R&D scientists and engineers reveals that there are no advantages associated with bridging per se. In contrast, our findings suggest that the advantages traditionally associated with bridging ties are contingent upon the nature of the ties forming the bridge-specifically, whether these bridging ties are Simmelian.

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“…The research also shows that the complexity of mashups (where complexity is measured as the number of APIs used) increases with time and suggests that complexity drives the development of mashup platforms. (Hargadon, 2002) highlights the recombinant nature of the innovation process. From this perspective, innovation can be described as the construction of new ideas from existing ones.…”

Section: Mashup Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of the Mashup Ecosystem

Weiß

Sari

2011

Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies

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Abstract:Mashups allow users to develop applications from a variety of open APIs. The creation of mashups is supported by a complex ecosystem of interconnected data providers, mashup platforms, and users. A sign of a healthy ecosystem is that the number and diversity of APIs and mashups in the ecosystem increases continuously. In this paper, we describe a model of the evolution of the mashup ecosystem that allows us to estimate the diversification of the mashup ecosystem over time. In this model we show the evolutionary relationships between mashups as branches in a phylogenetic tree. We discuss how the diversification rate of the mashup ecosystem can be estimated by fitting this tree to a birth-death process model. The results of our research show that the diversity of the mashup ecosystem is increasing with time, however, not monotonically.

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Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation

Cited by 474 publications

References 47 publications

The sources of management innovation: When firms introduce new management practices

The sources of management innovation: When firms introduce new management practices

Activating Cross-Boundary Knowledge: The Role of Simmelian Ties in the Generation of Innovations

Diversity of the Mashup Ecosystem

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