| dc.description.abstract | Several studies have focused on the importance of innovation as critical for a company’s success over time. In the last 50 years, there has been an increase in research considering peoples roles and interactions within a company as an important contribution and even base condition for successful innovation. (Burt, 2004) (Ahuja, 2000) (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990). This thesis elaborates on existing literature on communication networks and the extent to which communication networks may have an impact on idea capture and idea creation. Many studies have been conducted on the relationship between communication networks and innovation performance. Yet many have applied a quantitative research design in trying to understand this contingency and under which absorptive conditions these communication networks provide value for innovation performance. (Kostopoulos, Papalexandris, Papachroni, & Ioannou, Absorptive capacity, innovation, and financial performance, 2010) (Najafi-Tavani, Najafi-Tavani, Naudé, Oghazi, & Zeynaloo, 2018). While several studies focus on the internal knowledge creation capabilities (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995) (Popadiuk & Choo, 2006). Other studies focus more on the external knowledge contributions (Tsai, 2009) (Chesbrough, 2014). Through a close case study of a technology-intensive company, this thesis studies the potential gap between external knowledge acquisition and internal idea creation, focusing on how the external information enters the company and reaches the relevant technical department. By focusing on network position, actor distance and “tie strength” in the communication networks on a department level, we found that level of idea capture and creation appeared to be related to these aspects. | |