We investigate whether the effect of network position on innovation is causal or spurious. Although empirical evidence demonstrates that certain structural positions in alliance networks (e.g. structural holes) affect firm innovation, it is hard to disentangle the factors allowing a firm to put itself in a certain position from the innovation outcomes that stem from being in that position.…Read More
Many large firms try to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives by their employees, but the question of which employees undertake such initiatives has not been explored. In this study, we argue that the formal division of labor within a firm affects employees’ likelihood of engaging in internal corporate venturing. …Read More
We explore how intellectual property rights (IPR), a type of formal institution, affect firms’ access to global alliance networks and their positioning within those networks. We employed a difference-in-difference design to assess the impact of IPR reforms across thirteen countries.…Read More
Collaboration between individuals is critical to innovation and knowledge creation. Within an organizational context, however, collaborative relationships can be subject to an abrupt end should a collaborator exit the organization. …Read More
The networks literature examining the diffusion of complex innovations by social contagion has focused on the benefits of “multiplex” (or “wide”) ties in these processes. Multiplex ties span different types of networks to create inter-connectivity across subgraphs within a community. …Read More
Our field’s growing attention to interorganizational network structure frequently builds on the Watts and Strogatz (1998) small world model. Our literature has identified “small worlds” — actual networks which simultaneously obtain relatively high clustering and short path length — in many contexts. …Read More
Existing research on the diffusion of innovations has focused on the benefits of using central influencers to trigger adoption cascades in networks. Yet, prior work has not examined how influencers’ role complexity moderates these benefits. …Read More
Gina Bianchini, CEO and Founder of Mighty Networks, discusses how her company aims to offer an alternative to the social media giants by creating localized, niche networks that create strong relationships between communities and local businesses.…Read More
Many companies create and manage communities where consumers observe and exchange information about the effort expended by other consumers. Such communities are especially popular in the areas of fitness, education, dieting, and financial savings. …Read More
How do social interactions shape collective action, and how are they mediated by the availability of networked information technologies? To answer these questions, we study the Temperance Crusade, one of the earliest instances of organized political mobilization by women in the U.S. …Read More
We examine how competitive tensions and cooperative motivations together shape firms’ interactions and group‐level outcomes during technology coordination activities in multifirm settings. …Read More
The growth of the global technology industry drives the migration of skilled labor towards countries like the United States that can utilize it, but the U.S. limits the immigration of skilled workers that are employed domestically by U.S. firms. Proponents argue skilled immigration allows firms to access technical skills that unavailable domestically and promote innovation, but there is little evidence of whether this firm-level effect exists.…Read More
Research linking interorganizational networks to innovation has focused on spanning structural boundaries as a means of knowledge recombination. Increasingly, firms also partner across institutional boundaries (countries, industries, technologies) in their search for new knowledge.…Read More
Endogenous characteristics of alliance network structure have repeatedly been shown to predict future alliance ties in the strategic management literature. Specifically, the concepts and measures of relational, structural, and positional embeddedness (per Gulati and Gargiulo, 1999), as well as interdependence, are foundational for many studies.…Read More
Dealing with the threat of new entrants into its market is among the most fundamental strategic imperatives for any firm. This threat could be enhanced for various reasons, most prominently institutional or technological changes.…Read More
We study how firms simultaneously engage in competition and cooperation in technology standard-setting multipartner alliances. Departing from prior research that has typically explored competition in isolation from cooperation, we bridge these two literatures by examining firm communication and community consensus in these venues.…Read More
Venture capitalists often choose to form syndicates (groups of VCs) which jointly invest in projects instead of one VC funding the project individually. What are the determinants of who chooses to syndicate with whom?…Read More
Wharton management professor Exequiel Hernandez searches for the optimal mix of domestic and foreign partners in a firm’s network. The answer depends on what type of innovative solution a firm is trying to produce.…Read More
This research project examines how organizations can develop innovative solutions to large-scale socio-economic problems in emerging markets through multi-stakeholder partnerships. The objective is to determine how these partnerships are built, what the optimal configuration of partners is, and how the partnerships should be coordinated.…Read More
1) We examine the evolution of alliance networks by predicting ties and structure in the chemical and semiconductor industries. We compare our results to historical studies to determine how industry, timeframe, and method affect findings. 2) We explore the relationship between alliance networks and the locus of technological development which focuses on the standards-setting context.…Read More
