Deconstructing the Outsider Puzzle: The Legitimation Journey of Novelty

Abstract

This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractThe proposition that outsiders often are crucial carriers of novelty into an established institutional field has received wide empirical support. But an equally compelling proposition points to the following puzzle: the very same conditions that enhance outsiders' ability to make novel contributions also hinder their ability to carry them out. We seek to address this puzzle by examining the contextual circumstances that affect the legitimation of novelty originating from a non-certified outsider that challenged the status quo in an established institutional field. Our research case material is John Harrison's introduction of a new mechanical method for measuring longitude at sea -the marine chronometer -which challenged the dominant astronomical approach. We find that whether an outsider's new offer gains or is denied legitimacy is influenced by (1) the outsider's agency to further a new offer, (2) the existence of multiple audiences with different dispositions towards this offer, and (3) the occurrence of an exogenous jolt that helps create a more receptive social space. We organize these insights into a multilevel conceptual framework that builds on previous work but attributes a more decisive role to the interplay between endogenous and exogenous variables in shaping a field's shifting receptiveness to novelty. The framework exposes the mutually constitutive relationships between the micro-, meso-, and macro-level processes that jointly affect an outsider's efforts to introduce novelty into an existing field.

Innovation in the periphery: Compensation and exploitation strategies

“…These regions might provide opportunities for harnessing the protective environment that these areas often provide. Such an environment allows for the undisturbed search for and experimentation with novel solutions (Cattani, Ferriani, & Lanza, 2017;Doloreux, 2003;Glückler, 2014;Petrov, 2011), which may later be adopted on a larger scale. A case study by Glückler (2014) on the global chemical corporation BASF provides interesting findings in this regard.…”

Hold Your Horses: Temporal Multiplexity and Conflict Moderation in the Palio di Siena (1743–2010)

“…Second, temporal multiplexity is useful in capturing multi-level dynamics, exemplifying the benefits of simultaneously considering processes at the individual and network level (Ibarra, Kilduff and Tsai 2005, Moliterno and Mahony 2011, Cattani, Ferriani and Lanza 2017. The analysis attests that the interplay between individuals and groups and between collaboration and antagonism is vital to understanding social systems (Simmel 1955, Ibarra et al 2005.…”

Paradise of Novelty—Or Loss of Human Capital? Exploring New Fields and Inventive Output

“…The positive interaction between exploring new fields and expert team might, for example, be driven by the fact that experts help ex post with a better diffusion of the invention rather than by ex ante helping and directing the novice during the invention process itself. The novice might lack legitimacy in the new field (Cattani et al 2017). Or novices with unobserved higher quality ideas might convince experts in the field to collaborate with them.…”