Intraorganizational Networks, Interorganizational Networks, and the Impact of Central Inventors: A Longitudinal Study of Pharmaceutical Firms
Organization Science · 2010 · Volume 21 · Issue 1
Abstract
This paper proposes that a mechanism through which a firm's location in the interorganizational network influences the firm's internal innovation activities is modifying the amount of information flowing within the firm. Exploring a firm's internal innovation activities, I hypothesized that structural centrality of an inventor in the intrafirm coinventing network is associated with her impact on her firm's innovation activities in an inverted-U-shape relation. I further hypothesized that this relationship is moderated by the firm's centrality and span of structural holes in the interfirm network. I found strong support for these hypotheses in a longitudinal study of eight large pharmaceutical firms. The findings in this paper, apart from having managerial implications, have implications for research on alliances, network studies, and innovation processes.
Keywords
innovation, technology networks, inventors, multilevel ties, alliances
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