Exploring social network dynamics driving knowledge management for innovation

The competitiveness and sustainability of a modern organization depends on its ability to innovate successfully. It is accepted (Gratton, 2000; Iles, 1996) that knowledge, skills and competencies are the key drivers of innovation. Innovation is the combined activity of generating new knowledge and the subsequent successful exploitation of this for benefit (von Stamm, 2003; O’Sullivan and Dooley, 2008). A key contribution to our understanding of how knowledge produces innovations is that innovation rarely involves a single technology or market but rather a bundle of knowledge which is brought together into a configuration. It is about accessing and using knowledge about components but also about their integration (Tidd et al., 2005). Consequently, current perspectives of the innovation process view it as an interactive and networked system that spans organizational boundaries to draw on knowledge, experience and capabilities from diverse sources (Rothwell, 1992; Tidd et al, 2005). The result is that the locus of innovation and knowledge circulation lies in dynamic, competency-based, business networks (Voss, 2003; Walters, and Buchanan, 2001; Wright, and Burns, 1998)