Creative Imitation : Exploring the Case of Cross-Industry Innovation
Journal
R & D Management
ISSN
0033-6807
ISSN-Digital
1467-9310
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-06-03
Author(s)
Abstract
In cross-industry innovation, already existing solutions from other industries are creatively imitated and retranslated to meet the needs of the company's current market or products. Such solutions can be technologies, patents, specific knowledge, capabilities, business processes, general principles, or whole business models. Innovations systematically created in a cross-industry context are a new phenomenon for theory and practice in respect of an open innovation approach. While the cognitive distance between the acquired knowledge and the problem to be solved was regarded as a counterproductive factor in older research, recent theory regards it as positively related to innovation performance. Following the latest theory, we examine 25 cross-industry cases to ascertain cognitive distance's influence on innovation performance. Our study reveals that there is no direct correlation between a higher or closer distance and a more explorative or exploitative outcome.
Language
English
Keywords
cross-industry innovation
open innovation
explorative or exploitative outcome
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher place
Oxford
Volume
40
Number
3
Start page
256
End page
270
Pages
15
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
62766
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Enkel and Gassmann, 2010, R&D MGNT.pdf
Size
461.95 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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