Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

7-2016

Abstract

Firms create and capture value through innovation. In technology-driven firms, there has been an explicit emphasis on appropriability through imitation deterrence and cumulative inventions that build on prior firm innovation. We introduce systematic empirical evidence for a third mechanism of appropriability namely, knowledge retrieval, which is defined as the re-absorption of previously spilled knowledge. We extend previous studies which consider technological complexity and organizational coupling as predictors of appropriability by examining their impact on knowledge retrieval. We find that technological complexity has a curvilinear relationship with retrieval while organizational coupling has a negative relationship. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of absorptive capacity, organizational design and appropriability of innovation.

Keywords

Appropriability, technological complexity, coupling, knowledge retrieval, patents, innovation, patent citations, organization design

Discipline

Business | Strategic Management Policy | Technology and Innovation

Research Areas

Strategy and Organisation

Publication

Strategic Management Journal

Volume

37

Issue

7

First Page

1263

Last Page

1279

ISSN

1097-0266

Identifier

10.1002/smj.2383

Publisher

Wiley

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2383

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