EGO-NETWORK STABILITY AND INNOVATION IN ALLIANCES

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kumar, Pankaj; Zaheer, Akbar
• 署名单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/amj.2016.0819
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 691-716
• 关键词: research-and-development; firm performance; Structural holes; STRATEGIC ALLIANCES; social-structure; TECHNOLOGICAL DIVERSITY; COLLABORATION NETWORKS; absorptive-capacity; INTERFIRM NETWORKS; initial conditions

摘要

Much research has shown that firms' ego network configurations-i.e., structural holes or network closure-help them achieve superior innovation outcomes. However, little is known about how the stability of the firm's ego-network composition affects the firm's innovation. In this paper, we investigate the outcomes of ego-network stability in an alliance context, arguing that stability actually reduces innovation for the focal firm. We further investigate two contingencies-namely, the structural holes the focal firm spans and the geographic concentration of its inventive activities-that moderate the detrimental innovation effects of ego network stability. Focal firms can limit the negative effects of ego-network stability on innovation by spanning structural holes in their alliance portfolios, whereas the negative effects are worsened when the focal firms' inventive activities are geographically concentrated in a single country. We empirically test our hypotheses using 198 biopharmaceutical firms headquartered in the United States over a 21-year period from 1985 to 2005. Our results support our predictions.