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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
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The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups
Published on: May 13, 2022
6.4K
Firms, crowds, and innovation.
Teppo Felin1, Karim R Lakhani, Michael L Tushman2
1University of Oxford, UK.
Strategic Organization
|July 11, 2017
Summary
This research proposes a framework for understanding how firms leverage crowds for innovation, exploring sociality
Area of Science:
- Organizational Theory
- Innovation Management
- Sociology of Markets
Background:
- Extant theories of the firm provide a foundation for exploring crowd phenomena.
- Crowd-related practices like crowdsourcing and peer production are increasingly relevant to business strategy.
- The concept of 'sociality' offers a lens to analyze firm-crowd interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a preliminary taxonomy and research agenda for "firms, crowds, and innovation."
- To introduce a special issue focused on the intersection of firms, crowds, and innovation.
- To examine how crowd phenomena relate to theories of the firm, emphasizing sociality.
Main Methods:
- Review of extant theories of the firm.
- Theoretical discussion of sociality in the context of crowds and innovation.
- Categorization of sociality into functions, forms, and failures.
Main Results:
- Sociality can function as an extension of rationality, sensing/signaling, and matching/identity.
- Sociality manifests in both independent/aggregate and interacting/emergent forms.
- Failures of sociality include misattribution and misapplication.
Conclusions:
- A taxonomy and research agenda are proposed for "firms, crowds, and innovation."
- Understanding the functions, forms, and failures of sociality is crucial for firms engaging with crowds.
- Future research should further explore these theoretical aspects to advance the field.
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