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Digging deep or scratching the surface? Contingent innovation outcomes of seeking advice from geographically distant ties

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  • Chollet, Barthélemy
  • Revet, Karine

Abstract

Advice-seeking is an essential, daily R&D task. Therefore, the configuration of advice ties around a focal R&D worker likely determines their individual performance. Among the network dimensions considered in prior research, the geographical distance between advice providers and a focal advice seeker rarely has been investigated, despite widespread recognition that geography strongly affects knowledge circulation. To capture the effects of geographical distance on advice-seeking success, the current study takes a mixed method approach and investigate R&D engineers in a French cluster related to the semi-conductor industry. By analyzing the lived experience of 17 R&D workers, as recounted in in-depth interviews, we draw a conceptual distinction between surface and deep advice-seeking (study 1). These types differ in terms of their temporality, form of reciprocity and expected contribution. Consistent with this dual conceptualization and previous literature on the geography of knowledge, we predict that distant ties in the context of deep advice-seeking are beneficial to the innovation performance of R&D workers, but detrimental in the context of surface advice-seeking. A test of these hypotheses, involving 113 R&D workers, provides support for the proposed model (study 2). All in all, the paper sheds new light on geography and location as essential factors of innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Chollet, Barthélemy & Revet, Karine, 2023. "Digging deep or scratching the surface? Contingent innovation outcomes of seeking advice from geographically distant ties," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:189:y:2023:i:c:s0040162523000525
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122367
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