Untangling knowledge recombination: highlighting knowledge architecture on innovation outcomes

Abstract

According to the knowledge recombination perspective, innovation comes about through manipulation of knowledge components as well as the architecture of these components (reflected in the linkages among components). Nonetheless, the literature lacks a systematic explanation for how variations in architecture influence innovation outcomes. The purpose of this research is to address this problem. Treating architectural linkages as routines that enrich the meaning and function of individual components, we identify two key characteristics of architecture--the extent and non- decomposability of linkages. We examine how changes in these characteristics influence innovation novelty and use. Using pharmaceutical industry patent data from 1976 to 2014, we find that, for pairs of firm-specific patents that hold components constant, change in both extent and non-decomposability of linkages has a positive relationship with innovation novelty. In addition, the findings indicate that such architectural changes reduce external firms’ ability to utilize the innovation, but provide the innovating firm with an advantage in this regard. In doing so, this research demonstrates that the treatment of novelty and use of an innovation as positively correlated outcomes in the literature does not always hold.