Being a Catalyst of Innovation: The Role of Knowledge Diversity and Network Closure

DOI Web Site 1 Citations
  • Marco Tortoriello
    IESE Business School, University of Navarra, 28023 Madrid, Spain
  • Bill McEvily
    Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada
  • David Krackhardt
    Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Description

<jats:p>Whereas recent research on organizational innovation suggests that there is an ecology of roles supporting the innovation process, the majority of network research has concentrated on the role of inventors. In this paper, we contribute to research on organizational innovation by studying the social structural conditions conducive to individuals supporting, facilitating, and promoting the innovativeness of their colleagues—a role we refer to as catalysts of innovation. We consider an individual’s network position and the type of knowledge available to her through her network as key enabling conditions. We argue that the unique configuration of having access to diverse knowledge through a closed network enables individuals to act as innovation catalysts. Based on a study of 276 researchers in the research and development division of a large multinational high-tech company, we find strong support for our prediction and demonstrate that catalysts make important contributions to the innovative outputs of other researchers in terms of their colleagues’ patent applications.</jats:p>

Journal

  • Organization Science

    Organization Science 26 (2), 423-438, 2015-04

    Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)

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