Managing Networks of creativity

The creative process contains multiple sources of variation and unfolds at the individual, organizational, and inter-organizational levels of action. To highlight the interrelationships between these levels, I outline an ecological model that is grounded in ideas as the units of variation, selection, and transmission, in individuals as the agents who give meaning to ideas, and in creative fields providing the environment in which resources are exchanged. Using observations from studies of film production, I discuss the ecological model as a conceptual framework for integrating concepts from the dispositional, relational, and systemic perspectives on creativity. The Evolving Organizational Routine Dermot Breslin This chapter seeks to unpack the processes of creativity within organizations by using a Universal Darwinist approach to shed new light on the tension between exploitation and exploration. Using two well-publicized cases the co-evolution of routines at different hierarchical levels is examined. It is argued that achieving a balance between the need for exploitation and exploration, involves altering the interaction between the co-evolutionary systems at different hierarchical levels within the organization. As the need for exploration increases, then the greater the interaction between levels should be. On the other hand exploitation is increased by reducing this interaction between levels. Silicon Valley Stories Thierry Weil Many countries try to promote the emergence of technological clusters and ecosystems for growth, counting on the synergies between companies of varying sizes and academic research. Most look to Silicon Valley as the mythical role model. It is therefore worth trying to understand what caused this region’s exceptional development. Although abundant literature exists on the subject, it suggests a wide range of explanations. We propose to examine these accounts while trying to avoid boiling down a century of co-evolution in technologies, institutions, professional communities and markets into a few simplistic recipes that will result in inefficient state policies. Knowledge networks in science: is the management of science a spaceless phenomenon? The analysis of creativity in science appears an understudied issue. Particularly under-explored appears to be the issue of the collective dimensions of the work of scientists. Knowledge networks in science can be measured through research collaborations. This contribution develops a novel approach to the study of knowledge networks in science. Firstly, our pilot study studies the spatial dimension of the collaborative networks of a small group of scientists active in life science disciplines (medicine, biotech, pharmacy, nanotech and new materials science) working in Emilia Romagna Public Research Organisation (PRO). Secondly, our work tries to measure how (and if) the spatial patterns of scientific collaborations influence the scientist’s research output. Our work has mapped the co-authorship networks of 27 scientists collecting information on over more than 1600 articles written in the period 2000-end of 2004, and retrievable in the Medline database. Our work shows that despite the universalism of science, science networks are not spaceless, but they tend to be at the same time both local and based on long distance relationships. by F. Belussi and D. Porcellato (Padua University) Investigating creativity Creativity stays at the foundation of all acts of human invention, discovery, and creation. Acts of creativity may involve new scientific discoveries, technological applications, or organizational models representing new forms of organizing and managing resources. Creativity is embodied in science, management, arts, and culture. Often, creativity is considered a synonym of innovation, but there is an important difference. Creativity is at the basis of any imaginative act, and it is expressed in new ideas, which cover artistic products, culture, social systems, entrepreneurialship, and organisations, while innovation (and technological innovation in particular) is a narrower concept. Further, innovation regards the application of a new idea to a practical field, and it is typically embodied in new products. But it is often the imaginative vision of the entrepreneur, and creativity drives the introduction of changes into the system. The launching of new products is the consequence of this visionary view, and not vice versa. This paper shows how creativity may have a wider application in business studies, how it can be linked to the creation of fashion and design, how it is blent with social identities, how it involves the socio-economic contests, and how it is at basis of the creation of new markets. Four case studies are presented that illustrate these issues. The network position of firms as a determinant of marketing strategy: the case of the top quality wine sector Marco Visentin The aim of this research is to explain the effect on the price strategy of the position gained by a firm in a knowledge network spanned by organisations and professionals. In the context of the Italian high-end segment of premium wines, the mobility of oenologists among winemakers determined a process of diffusion of knowledge. Our analyses prove that learning-by-hiring occurred by spreading from an early kernel of traditional producers to the whole high-end segment of the market. We document how the community of oenologists acted as the legitimating actor that allowed traditional and new firms alike to access the distribution channels at a given price level. The empirical analyses of this work are performed by using network analysis and an ordered logit model on almost one thousand wines produced by the top quality Italian winemakers. The emergence of trust-based knowledge ecosystems: the case of illycaffè in Brazil Pierpaolo Andriani, Durham Business School, Durham University, United Kingdom Gianluca Biotto, University of Udine, Italy In this paper we report a case study about the emergence and evolution of a knowledge-sharing networks of coffee suppliers in Brazil. The case presents several interesting and original aspects. The coffee knowledge-sharing network was set up by illycaffe’, one of the iconic Italian brands, after their entry in the Brazilian coffee market in 1991. The network constitutes an original governance mechanism, through which a keystone company regulates its suppliers’ ecosystem. In this paper we are going to make the following points: 1. The suppliers’ network constitutes an ecosystem à la Iansiti and Levien (2004). 2. The reason d’etre of the network is knowledge diffusion and knowledge sharing. These knowledge management activities are carried out to improve coffee quality. 3. Contrarily to other suppliers’ networks, this one is purely trust-based. Contractual forms play a marginal role in ensuring network cohesiveness, shared identity and sustainability. 4. Although the network originated from illycaffe’s intent to improve coffee quality by diffusing technical knowledge (with the aim of increasing sourcing of high quality beans), the network has acquired self-organising properties and has become a system of collective intelligence. 5. Trust and knowledge-sharing form the pillar of a self-sustaining loop in which trust favours open circulation of information, which, in turn, by improving suppliers’ competitiveness, reinforces the sense of belonging to the network. The paper is structured as follows: in the first part we describe the literature on trust and knowledge sharing. We highlight in particular the aspects of trust and knowledge-sharing that are related to networks and network’s governance. After touching briefly on the literature on business ecosystems, we present the case study of a particular ecosystem based on trust and knowledge sharing, that is, the network of illycaffe’s suppliers. Discussions and conclusions close the paper. Are innovation networks still territorially embedded? The Crolles 2 alliance in semiconductors Nicolas Balas and Florence Palpacuer This chapter investigates the spatial dimension of innovation networks, against the background of an abundant literature considering the territorial embeddedness of firms as a central determinant of their capacity to learn and innovate. On the basis of an exploratory study of the Crolles 2 Alliance in the microelectronics cluster of Grenoble (France), ending with the exit of two major firms, and in light of broader spatial reconfigurations in the global semiconductor industry, we critically address such “over-territorialized” view of innovation and identify the emergence of an alternative form for innovation incorporating spatial embeddedness as a temporary and reversible process. Evolution of Spanish industrial districts: How are they evolving and adapting in the face of globalization? José-Vicente Tomás-Miquel, Francesc-Xavier Molina-Morales, and Manuel Expósito-Langa Some authors suggest that in recent years the "traditional" industrial district has evolved into a new district model that questions some of the principles that have characterized it to date. From this hypothesis, the aim of this study is to analyze the extent to which districts have changed their pattern of operation, ultimately, their way of organizing production and its external relations. To answer these questions, we have studied the evolution of 172 Spanish districts. The results suggest that industrial districts are reorganizing their internal structure in order to meet the new challenges posed by increasing market globalization. Localization and productivity: the evolution of a relationship for two units of analysis Francisco Puig and Helena Marques This chapter analyzes the influence of geographical proximity on the productive efficiency of firms using a sample of 10,490 Spanish textile firms in the period 2001-2006. The results show a positive and significant relationship between agglomeration and productivity, although this relationship has been decreasing over time. Given the economic importance of the textile industry in some EU countries where it is heavily concentrated geographically, several strategic and policy recommendations aimed at strengthening industrial districts are developed.