The Dynamics of Innovation and Interfirm Networks : Exploration, Exploitation, and Co-Evolution

This book aims to understand how sectoral dynamics condition learning and innovation activities within interfirm networks. To do so, a dynamic model of co-evolution at an industry level is developed, differentiating between a setting of exploration and exploitation. In analysing this co-evolutionary process, two views on organisation are combined; a competence view and a governance view. This combination of competence and governance yields a more complete view of interfirm relations. Based on this, hypotheses are developed and tested in two Dutch knowledge-intensive industries: multimedia and pharmaceutical biotechnology. The empirical findings indicate that a general pattern of co-evolution on an industry level can be identified, but how it settles in a specific combination of network structure and coordination mechanisms varies across the two industries.