| In my dissertation I investigate the social process through which knowledge sourced from outside the organization is internalized and applied toward the creation of commercializable innovations. Building on absorptive capacity and social network theory, I present and test a theoretical model to explain the differences in individuals' contributions to organizational innovativeness. The model is premised on the notion that innovation stems from the novel combination of different sources of knowledge and, as such, is the result of collective rather than individual efforts. Focusing on the type of knowledge internalized, by whom, and the interaction patterns through which it is applied to the generation of innovations I argue that both the structure of knowledge and the structure of social networks are critical aspects of the absorptive capacity process. Hypotheses derived from the theoretical framework are tested using original sociometric data collected from 276 scientiste, researchers, and engineers from 16 R&D labs of a multinational semiconductor producer. Results indicate that knowledge sourced from outside the organization enhances individuals' contributions to organizational innovativeness. These benefits however, are contingent upon the type of external knowledge sourced by individuals and how similar or different this knowledge is to the knowledge available through their network of contacts inside the organization.; *This dissertation was funded in part by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and by the Fondazione IRI research fellowships. Support by the Center for Organizational Learning and Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University is also gratefully acknowledged. |
