Knowledge networks change during radical and incremental innovation episodes: a case study on software development

De Vita, Riccardo and Conaldi, Guido (2009) Knowledge networks change during radical and incremental innovation episodes: a case study on software development. In: Sunbelt XXIX - International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, 10-15 March 2009, San Diego, CA. (Unpublished)

Abstract

The role intra-organizational knowledge exchanges play in innovation processes has been widely acknowledged in the organizational literature. This paper contributes to the understanding of which specific configurations knowledge networks assume during different phases of radical and incremental innovation processes. The case study we selected is a FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) community consisting of 233 developers committed to the development of a web browser application since November 2002. By harvesting the mailing list, official blog and code repository of a FLOSS community, we investigate the patterns of knowledge exchange and individual contributions of its developers. We measure structural cohesion and compare global and local network properties at different points in time. Preliminary results show that phases of radical and incremental innovation are associated with specific configurations of the knowledge network as a whole as well as with different network positions of the core developers of the software.

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