TY - JOUR

T1 - Reviewing the Field of External Knowledge Search for Innovation

T2 - Theoretical Underpinnings and Future (Re-)search Directions

AU - Ehls, Daniel

AU - Polier, Sara

AU - Herstatt, Cornelius

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Product Innovation Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Product Development & Management Association

PY - 2020/9/1

Y1 - 2020/9/1

N2 - The field of external knowledge search for innovation has a long tradition and has inspired several schools of thought resulting in a rich and burgeoning body of research. However, the field suffers from two key limitations. First, the pluralism of research across multiple disciplines impedes our attention to the field as a whole, including its intellectual structure and core ideas. Second, recent developments in the business environment and key new ideas in the field complement taken-for-granted approaches and provide new opportunities for knowledge search. Based on a systematic co-citation analysis, we provide a reflective review of the literature and make several contributions. We integrate existing research across disciplines and offer a synthesis of a fragmented research landscape to present a global view of the field. Moreover, we propose a novel external search concept and introduce the idea of “decoupled search.” Leveraging our synthesis and conceptualization further, we recommend future research directions for the entire field of external knowledge search for innovation.

AB - The field of external knowledge search for innovation has a long tradition and has inspired several schools of thought resulting in a rich and burgeoning body of research. However, the field suffers from two key limitations. First, the pluralism of research across multiple disciplines impedes our attention to the field as a whole, including its intellectual structure and core ideas. Second, recent developments in the business environment and key new ideas in the field complement taken-for-granted approaches and provide new opportunities for knowledge search. Based on a systematic co-citation analysis, we provide a reflective review of the literature and make several contributions. We integrate existing research across disciplines and offer a synthesis of a fragmented research landscape to present a global view of the field. Moreover, we propose a novel external search concept and introduce the idea of “decoupled search.” Leveraging our synthesis and conceptualization further, we recommend future research directions for the entire field of external knowledge search for innovation.

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090123995&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/jpim.12549

DO - 10.1111/jpim.12549

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85090123995

VL - 37

SP - 405

EP - 430

JO - Journal of Product Innovation Management

JF - Journal of Product Innovation Management

SN - 0737-6782

IS - 5

ER -