The Evolution of the Inventor Collaboration Networks in Samsung Electronics and Hynix

Abstract

This paper examines the inventor collaboration networks at the semiconductor divisions of Samsung and Hynix from 1982 to 2006. Our data analysis demonstrates that the collaboration networks at the beginning were characterized by a set of unconnected bits and pieces of isolated individuals and small teams. In Samsung, isolated teams were gradually connected to one another by the company's effort to build bridges between different subunits, such as job rotations and cross-functional meetings. In the 1990s and afterwards, the company saw an emergence of a giant cluster with a small proportion of bridging ties that interweave small- and medium-sized subgroups that were previously unconnected. Benchmarking Samsung's practices with some time lag, Hynix experienced the rise of a similar giant cluster in the new millennium. Our computational analysis suggests that this particular network architecture is more conducive to innovation than other theoretically conceivable ones.