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Measuring exaptation and its impact on innovation, search, and problem solving
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Andriani, Pierpaolo, Ali, Ayfer and Mastrogiorgio, Mariano (2017) Measuring exaptation and its impact on innovation, search, and problem solving. Organization Science, 28 (2). pp. 320-338. doi:10.1287/orsc.2017.1116
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1116
Abstract
Exaptation, the emergence of latent functionality in existing artifacts, is an underexplored mechanism of novelty generation in innovation. In this paper, we measure the frequency of exaptation in the pharmaceutical industry. We find that about 42% of new functions derived from existing drugs have an exaptive nature. We think that this constitutes the first measure of exaptation in any industry. We also link exaptation with radical innovation and find that most radical innovations in our sample are exaptive. Also, nearly all radical innovations occur in market areas very distant from the drug’s original market. We propose that exaptive innovation constitutes a different search mechanism and problem-solving approach from deliberate innovation and discuss the role of context and serendipity in innovation.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | |||||||||
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| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor | |||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Strategy & International Business Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Pharmaceutical industry, Problem solving, Serendipity | |||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Organization Science | |||||||||
| Publisher: | Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (I N F O R M S) | |||||||||
| ISSN: | 1047-7039 | |||||||||
| Official Date: | 22 March 2017 | |||||||||
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| Volume: | 28 | |||||||||
| Number: | 2 | |||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 320-338 | |||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1287/orsc.2017.1116 | |||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | |||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | |||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | |||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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