Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons^™

Knowledge Development Approaches And Breakthrough Innovations In Technology-Based New Firms, Dzidziso Samuel Kamuriwo, Charles Baden-Fuller, Jing Zhang

Management Faculty Publications

Compared to large established firms, technology-based new firms (TBNF) seem well placed to produce breakthrough innovations although questions remain as to their adeptness at subsequent exploitation. Building on the innovation and strategy literatures, the study identifies two different knowledge-development approaches or modes (business models) in TBNFs—internal versus external—and examines their relation to breakthrough innovation and subsequent progression of the product to market. The internal mode assembles knowledge inside the firm to generate its innovations, whereas the external mode relies heavily on alliances to develop and assemble knowledge among firms embedded in a creative network. The study uses a unique panel …