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      Toward a Relational View of Organizational Innovation: Learning from Previous and Subsequent Stages of Innovation in Large Biopharmaceutical Firms, 1990–2006

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            Abstract

            The paper draws on insights from relational sociology to develop a relational view of organizational innovation which suggests that feedback between stages of innovation may occur regardless of whether they precede one another, and activities at different stages may have reciprocal effects. Regression models based on a sample of 113 large biopharmaceutical firms demonstrate that firms with products in alternative stages of innovation are associated with having products in the focal stage. The key findings from the regression analysis are that product development generates positive feedback for product implementation and vice versa, and engaging in activities at multiple, alternative stages simultaneously generates benefits at the focal stage. The reciprocity between stages provides compelling evidence for the importance of viewing innovation through the lens of relational theory. Interviews with industry informants illustrate the fluidity that exists between innovation stages and the importance of fostering social interactions and communication between organizational members involved in innovation for fostering success across stages.

            Content

            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Journal
            10.2307/j50022063
            prometheus
            Prometheus
            Pluto Journals
            0810-9028
            1470-1030
            1 June 2020
            : 36
            : 2 ( doiID: 10.13169/prometheus.36.issue-2 )
            : 173-197
            Affiliations
            Sociology Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States
            Article
            prometheus.36.2.0173
            10.13169/prometheus.36.2.0173
            3cb1c5df-4c12-48c1-a05a-1ccb4e76f12f
            © 2020 Pluto Journals

            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

            History
            Custom metadata
            eng

            Computer science,Arts,Social & Behavioral Sciences,Law,History,Economics

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