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Team diversity as dissimilarity and variety in organizational innovation

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  • Huo, Dong
  • Motohashi, Kazuyuki
  • Gong, Han

Abstract

How team composition exactly influences innovation outcomes remains a complex and unsolved puzzle in the literature on creativity and innovation. Our study differentiates two types of team technology-related diversity—technological dissimilarity and technological variety, and investigates their influences on the impact of an invention created by a team. Analyses of over half million U.S. utility patents in the 1991–2005 period invented by teams reveal that technological variety of team inventors has a positive effect on invention impact, and that technological dissimilarity between team inventors plays both positive and negative roles, eliciting an inverted U-shaped effect. In addition, we find that the positive effect of dissimilarity is significantly reduced after controlling for variety. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Huo, Dong & Motohashi, Kazuyuki & Gong, Han, 2019. "Team diversity as dissimilarity and variety in organizational innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1564-1572.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:48:y:2019:i:6:p:1564-1572
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2019.03.020
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