The interpersonal network structure of an organization directly influences the diffusion and recombination of ideas, and can thus facilitate or impede organizational learning. Most interpersonal networks have “hubs” – individuals that have significantly more connections than does the...

In the early-to-mid 1990s technology alliances suddenly surged to unprecedented levels – roughly 300% growth per year from 1990 to 1995 – and then declined just as precipitously. This massive increase in alliance activity caused the crystallization of a giant component in the global...

In industries characterized by network externalities, the self-reinforcing effects of installed base and the availability of complementary goods can lead to a single (or few) firm(s) controlling nearly all of the market share in a product category. A new entrant may attempt to displace the...

Most innovation builds closely on existing knowledge and technology, delivering incremental advances on existing ideas, products, and processes. Sometimes, however, inventors make discoveries that seem very distant from what is known and well understood. How do individuals and firms explore such...

Some ideas have dramatically more impact than others – they may overturn existing paradigms or launch new areas of scientific inquiry. Where do such high impact ideas come from? Are some search processes significantly more likely to lead to breakthrough idea generation than others? In this...

The classic tradeoff between exploration and exploitation in organizational learning has attracted vigorous attention by researchers over the last two decades. Despite this attention, however, the question of how firms can better maintain the balance of exploration and exploitation remains...