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A Structural Perspective on Organizational Innovation

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  • Stuart, Toby E

Abstract

Sociologists contend that industries can be importantly characterized as sets of interlocking producer positions. This paper argues that this distinctively relational conception of a market represents a powerful framework for depicting and analyzing the process of technical change. The paper presents a method for using patent citation data to describe the positions of high-technology firms in a market-wide "technological network." It focuses on one property of a producer's position in this technological network--"crowding"--which represents the extent to which the firm specializes in areas of technology that are densely populated with other organizations. Four propositions are developed linking technological crowding to two firm-level measures of innovation: (i) the annual level of R&D expenditures, and (ii) the continuous time rate of patenting. The findings demonstrate that the positions innovators occupy in the technological structure of the market strongly affects their level of investment in R&D and rate of innovation. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Stuart, Toby E, 1999. "A Structural Perspective on Organizational Innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 8(4), pages 745-775, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:8:y:1999:i:4:p:745-75
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    Cited by:

    1. Stuart, Toby & Sorenson, Olav, 2003. "The geography of opportunity: spatial heterogeneity in founding rates and the performance of biotechnology firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 229-253, February.
    2. Ad van den Oord & Arjen van Witteloostuijn, 2017. "The Population Ecology of Technology: An Empirical Study of US Biotechnology Patents from 1976 to 2003," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-26, January.
    3. Chia-Wen Hsu & Homin Chen, 2009. "Foreign Direct Investment and Capability Development," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 585-605, October.
    4. José-Antonio Belso-Martínez & Manuel Expósito-Langa, 2015. "Persistence and extinction of brokerage roles in clusters: the role of status, former experiences and extra-cluster relationships," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1501, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2015.
    5. Chih-Yi, Su & Bou-Wen, Lin, 2021. "Attack and defense in patent-based competition: A new paradigm of strategic decision-making in the era of the fourth industrial revolution," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Bill McEvily & Jonathan Jaffee & Marco Tortoriello, 2012. "Not All Bridging Ties Are Equal: Network Imprinting and Firm Growth in the Nashville Legal Industry, 1933–1978," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 547-563, April.
    7. Candiani, Juan Antonio & Gilsing, Victor & Mastrogiorgio, Mariano, 2022. "Technological entry in new niches: Diversity, crowding and generalism," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    8. José Antonio Belso-Martínez & Manuel Expósito-Langa & Francisco Mas-Verdú & F. Xavier Molina-Morales, 2017. "Dynamics of Brokerage Positions in Clusters: Evidence from the Spanish Foodstuffs Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-18, February.

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