Unlike problems requiring new-to-the-world solutions that combine knowledge from multiple sources, operational problems can often be solved by repurposing existing knowledge from other contexts into new-to-the-firm solutions. Firms that seek new-to-the-firm solutions to operational problems face...

Technological search studies argue that problems trigger search, but we lack understanding of which features of a problem associate with a critical search activity: search breadth. This paper considers how different problem sources—proximate versus remote problem sources—relate to...

Research Summary: We consider how different problem sources — proximate versus remote — relate to heterogeneity in search breadth. While studies of search have established the importance of search breadth and argued that problems trigger search, this research has focused on a single problem...

In emerging-market countries, commercial institutions do not always develop quickly or effectively to support ambitious entrepreneurs. How do intermediaries remedy these problems? We address this question by drawing on institutional literatures to develop the concept of open system...