A strategy for the analysis of idea innovation networks and institutions

The perspective of this paper is that variation in commercially successful radical product/process innovations among science-based industrial sectors can be explored by focusing on idea innovation networks. Idea innovation ne tworks have six arenas reflecting research - basic research, applied resear ch, product development research, production research, quality control rese arch, and commercialization/marketing research. The paper develops two inte rrelated hypotheses. The first is that the greater the diversity of compete ncies or knowledges that are connected with frequent and intense communicat ion within an arena and the greater the size of the arena, and the greater the likelihood that radical innovations will emerge. The second hypothesis involves the same kind of logic: if radical solutions are to occur in more than one arena, there must be intense and frequent communication among the different arenas involving radically new ways of thinking. Radical research solutions in one arena usually involve tacit knowledge and to be effective ly communicated to another arena, both tacit knowledge and codified knowled ge must be communicated across arenas. However, the communication of tacit knowledge is more likely to occur when there is frequent and intense commun ication across arenas. In analyzing connectedness, the authors draw on the literatures about organ izational innovation and organizational learning. In addition, they recogni ze that institutional environments shape the size of research arenas and th e connectedness within and among them. The suggestion is that the more simi larity there is across sectors, in patterns of research arena size and conn ectedness, the greater the support for a national system of innovation inte rpretation. Contrariwise, less similarity of network arena characteristics across sectors may mean more support for the strong role of globalization f orces in affecting innovation.