Title: Alliance ego-network configuration, innovation and scientific agents

Authors: Isabel Díez-Vial; José Antonio Belso-Martínez; María José López-Sánchez

Addresses: Department of Management and Marketing, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain ' Department of Applied Economy, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain ' Department of Applied Economy, Miguel Hernández University, Elche, Spain

Abstract: The objective of this research is to identify the alliance network configuration that would be best for improving an organisation's innovation capacity. We focus on the ego-network that each innovating organisation establishes with its partners to evaluate how partner centrality, constraint and novelty affect how organisations harness exploration and exploitation in their innovation capacity. We also differentiate between scientific agents (mainly universities, research labs, and hospitals) and other organisations. Empirical evidence has been gathered for 133 Spanish biotechnology organisations from 2006 to 2016, which resulted in 1,197 observations. The results indicate that exploration innovation capacity is positively related to organisations that are central, while exploitation is positively related to constraint and negatively influenced by the addition of new partners. The ego-network of scientific agents is also characterised by high centrality, but high constraint configurations negatively affect their exploration innovation capacity, while alliances with new partners benefit their exploitation capacity.

Keywords: exploration; exploitation; ego-networks; alliance; supporting organisations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2022.123008

International Journal of Technology Management, 2022 Vol.89 No.1/2, pp.68 - 92

Accepted: 21 Jun 2021
Published online: 20 May 2022 *

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