How controversial innovation succeeds in the periphery? A network perspective of BASF Argentina

Abstract

This article builds elements of a theory of peripheral innovation in transnational corporations. Although subsidiaries at the geographical periphery of the global economy and at the organizational periphery of their headquarters often contribute a negligible amount to the corporate global revenues, this article provides evidence on the role of these peripheries in knowledge creation and in enforcing controversial innovations. Based on an embedded and mixed-method case study of the Argentinean subsidiary of the chemical corporation BASF that uses qualitative interviews and a social network survey of knowledge sharing among employees, this article develops three sets of propositions about contextual and network opportunities for creating and enforcing innovations in the periphery of transnational corporations.