Inertia, Knowledge Sources and Diversity in Collaborative Problem-solving
- Publication date
- Publisher
- 2016
Abstract
Innovation is at the core of firms’ competitiveness. External knowledge is increasingly
leveraged in the efforts to increase innovation performance by solving innovation related
problems and thereby developing new technology, products or services. Using internal
knowledge sources can be beneficial when pursuing minor performance improvements in
existing technologies. However, reliance on internal knowledge sources carries a risk of
organizational inertia related to problem understanding and solution development in the
shape of path-dependencies and preferences for exploitation and reapplication of existing
knowledge. Such inertia may imbue innovation processes related to the development of
new technologies with reduced novelty and an inability to recognize alternative and
potentially more attractive solutions. As a result, over-reliance on internal knowledge
sources is likely to inhibit the ability to solve problems and reduce innovation
performance related to the development of new technology. In contrast, a growing stream
of research shows the positive effect on problem-solving and innovation performance
from drawing on diverse knowledge sources outside the firm. Through collaborative
efforts involving universities, customers, competitors and suppliers in problem-solving
firms can gain complementary perspectives, insights and technological knowledge as they
pursue the development of innovative technologies