Technology as a complex adaptive system: evidence from patent data

Fleming, Lee; Sorenson, Olav

doi:10.1016/s0048-7333(00)00135-9

Cited by 1,015 publications

(769 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Kauffman's (1993) models of search over interdependent landscapes also imply a positive but nonmonotonic effect on the mean. Conceptualizing technological invention as search over interdependent landscapes implies a complexity catastrophe in technological evolution, as inventors face greater numbers of components and greater interdependence between them (Fleming and Sorenson 2001). Inventors are not blind search agents, however, and their search strategies will differ greatly and presumably be more effective than genetic recombination (Gavetti andLevinthal 2000, Rivkin 2000).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search

2001

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W hile the course of technological change is widely accepted to be highly uncertain and unpredictable, little work has identified or studied the ultimate sources and causes of that uncertainty. This paper proposes that purely technological uncertainty derives from inventors' search processes with unfamiliar components and component combinations. Experimentation with new components and new combinations leads to less useful inventions on average, but it also implies an increase in the variability that can result in both failure and breakthrough. Negative binomial count and dispersion models with patent citation data demonstrate that new combinations are indeed more variable. In contrast to predictions, however, the reuse of components has a nonmonotonic and eventually positive effect on variability.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search

2001

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“…Novelty creation in this respect is facilitated by teaming up with companies that are relatively far away in the network and that are dissimilar from the focal firm. Dissimilarity seems to breed novelty, albeit recent literature has shown that too much dissimilarity is decreasing the absorptive capacity of firms and therefore the ability to create novelty (Hamel, 1991;Lane and Lubatkin, 1998;Mowery et al, 1996;Fleming and Sorenson, 2001). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding novelty creation in exploration networks—Structural and relational embeddedness jointly considered

2008

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In exploration networks the key-organisational question is not how to organise a division of labour but instead how to create novelty. The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of how such novelty in exploration networks is created. Based on an empirical analysis of the multimedia and biotechnology industries in the Netherlands, this paper shows that exploration networks face a trade-off between diversity and selection. Moreover, the findings indicate that depending on the type of exploration task, exploration networks need to make a combination of density and tie strength in such a way that diversity and selection are aligned. The paper concludes, among others, that the views of Burt, Coleman and Granovetter should not be seen as contradictory, but rather as proponents of complementary views. r

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“…In addition, the benefits of knowledge recombination from different sources may diminish as the number of sources increases. For example, using an NK model (Kauffman, 1993), Fleming and Sorenson (2001) show that it becomes increasingly difficult to combine technological components when the number of interactions among components grows.…”

Section: Limits To Breadthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth

Leiponen

Helfat

2009

Strategic Management Journal

1,089

993

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Given the inherent risk of innovative activity, firms can improve the odds of success by pursuing multiple parallel objectives. Because innovation draws on many sources of ideas, firms also may improve their odds of successful innovation by accessing a large number of knowledge sources. In this study, we conduct one of the first firm-level statistical analyses of the impact on innovation of breadth in both innovation objectives and knowledge sources. The empirical results suggest that broader horizons with respect to innovation objectives and knowledge sources are associated with successful innovation. We do not find diminishing returns to breadth in innovation objectives, which suggests that firms may tend to search too narrowly. We interpret these results in light ofwell-known cognitive biases toward searching in relatively familiar domains.

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Technology as a complex adaptive system: evidence from patent data

Cited by 1,015 publications

References 34 publications

Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search

Recombinant Uncertainty in Technological Search

Understanding novelty creation in exploration networks—Structural and relational embeddedness jointly considered

Innovation objectives, knowledge sources, and the benefits of breadth

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