Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth
Tóm tắt
Given the inherent risk of innovative activity, firms can improve the odds of success by pursuing multiple parallel objectives. Because innovation draws on many sources of ideas, firms also may improve their odds of successful innovation by accessing a large number of knowledge sources. In this study, we conduct one of the first firm‐level statistical analyses of the impact on innovation of breadth in both innovation objectives and knowledge sources. The empirical results suggest that broader horizons with respect to innovation objectives and knowledge sources are associated with successful innovation. We do not find diminishing returns to breadth in innovation objectives, which suggests that firms may tend to search too narrowly. We interpret these results in light of well‐known cognitive biases toward searching in relatively familiar domains. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Từ khóa
Tài liệu tham khảo
Arundel A, 1995, PACE report: innovation strategies of Europe's largest industrial firms: results of the PACE survey for information sources, public research, protection of innovations and government programmes: final report
BaldwinCY ClarkKB.2003.The architecture of participation: does code architecture mitigate free riding in the open source development model?Working paper 03–209 Harvard Business School Boston MA.
Jewkes J, 1958, The Sources of Invention
Nelson RR, 1982, An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change
Schumpeter JA, 1934, The Theory of Economic Development