IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ororsc/v28y2017i2p320-338.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Exaptation and Its Impact on Innovation, Search, and Problem Solving

Author

Listed:
  • Pierpaolo Andriani

    (Kedge Business School, 13288 Marseille, France)

  • Ayfer Ali

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 28903 Madrid, Spain)

  • Mariano Mastrogiorgio

    (School of Business Administration, IE University, 28006 Madrid, Spain)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierpaolo Andriani & Ayfer Ali & Mariano Mastrogiorgio, 2017. "Measuring Exaptation and Its Impact on Innovation, Search, and Problem Solving," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 320-338, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:28:y:2017:i:2:p:320-338
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2017.1116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1116
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/orsc.2017.1116?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Atul Nerkar & Peter W. Roberts, 2004. "Technological and product‐market experience and the success of new product introductions in the pharmaceutical industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 779-799, August.
    2. Giovanni Gavetti & Daniel A. Levinthal & Jan W. Rivkin, 2005. "Strategy making in novel and complex worlds: the power of analogy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 691-712, August.
    3. Owen F. Humpage, 2008. "Rising relative prices or inflation: why knowing the difference matters," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Jun.
    4. Henry Mintzberg & James A. Waters, 1985. "Of strategies, deliberate and emergent," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 257-272, July.
    5. Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), 2011. "Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13391.
    6. Gino Cattani, 2006. "Technological pre-adaptation, speciation, and emergence of new technologies: how Corning invented and developed fiber optics," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 15(2), pages 285-318, April.
    7. Dew, Nicholas & Read, Stuart & Sarasvathy, Saras D. & Wiltbank, Robert, 2008. "Outlines of a behavioral theory of the entrepreneurial firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 37-59, April.
    8. Teppo Felin & Todd R. Zenger, 2016. "CROSSROADS—Strategy, Problems, and a Theory for the Firm," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 222-231, February.
    9. Teppo Felin & Stuart Kauffman & Roger Koppl & Giuseppe Longo, 2014. "Economic Opportunity and Evolution: Beyond Landscapes and Bounded Rationality," Post-Print hal-01415115, HAL.
    10. Kenny Ching, 2016. "Exaptation dynamics and entrepreneurial performance: evidence from the internet video industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(1), pages 181-198.
    11. Levinthal, Daniel A, 1998. "The Slow Pace of Rapid Technological Change: Gradualism and Punctuation in Technological Change," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 7(2), pages 217-247, June.
    12. Nicholas Dew & Saras D. Sarasvathy, 2016. "Editor's Choice Exaptation and niche construction: behavioral insights for an evolutionary theory," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(1), pages 167-179.
    13. Mastrogiorgio, Mariano & Gilsing, Victor, 2016. "Innovation through exaptation and its determinants: The role of technological complexity, analogy making & patent scope," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1419-1435.
    14. Nicholas Dew & S. Sarasvathy & S. Venkataraman, 2004. "The economic implications of exaptation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 69-84, January.
    15. Andriani, Pierpaolo & Carignani, Giuseppe, 2014. "Modular exaptation: A missing link in the synthesis of artificial form," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1608-1620.
    16. Teppo Felin & Stuart Kauffman & Antonio Mastrogiorgio & Mariano Mastrogiorgio, 2016. "Factor markets, actors, and affordances," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 25(1), pages 133-147.
    17. Gino Cattani, 2005. "Preadaptation, Firm Heterogeneity, and Technological Performance: A Study on the Evolution of Fiber Optics, 1970–1995," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 563-580, December.
    18. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    19. Sidney G. Winter, 2012. "Purpose and Progress in the Theory of Strategy: Comments on Gavetti," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 288-297, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Teppo Felin & Stuart Kauffman & Todd Zenger, 2023. "Resource origins and search," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1514-1533, June.
    2. De Noni, Ivan & Ganzaroli, Andrea & Pilotti, Luciano, 2021. "Spawning exaptive opportunities in European regions: The missing link in the smart specialization framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    3. Pierpaolo Andriani & Renata Kaminska, 2020. "Exploring the dynamics of novelty production through exaptation: a historical analysis of coal tar-based innovations," Post-Print halshs-03070325, HAL.
    4. James, Steffan & Liu, Zheng & Stephens, Victoria & White, Gareth R.T., 2022. "Innovation in crisis: The role of ‘exaptive relations’ for medical device development in response to COVID-19," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    5. Tian Heong Chan & Shi-Ying Lim, 2023. "The Emergence of Novel Product Uses: An Investigation of Exaptations in IKEA Hacks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(5), pages 2870-2892, May.
    6. , Aisdl, 2020. "The Serendipity Mindset," OSF Preprints w52y9, Center for Open Science.
    7. Aaltonen, Päivi Hanna Maria, 2020. "Piecing together a puzzle—A review and research agenda on internationalization and the promise of exaptation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    8. Wu, Aiqi & Song, Di & Liu, Yihui, 2022. "Platform synergy and innovation speed of SMEs: The roles of organizational design and regional environment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 38-53.
    9. Beltagui, Ahmad & Rosli, Ainurul & Candi, Marina, 2020. "Exaptation in a digital innovation ecosystem: The disruptive impacts of 3D printing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    10. Codini, Anna Paola & Abbate, Tindara & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2023. "Business Model Innovation and exaptation: A new way of innovating in SMEs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Liang Wu & Heng Liu, 2022. "How bricolage influences green management in high‐polluting manufacturing firms: The role of stakeholder engagement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3616-3634, November.
    12. Mario Daniele Amore & Mariano Mastrogiorgio, 2022. "Technological Entry, Redeployability, and Firm Value," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(7), pages 1688-1722, November.
    13. Galvin, Peter & Burton, Nicholas & Nyuur, Richard, 2020. "Leveraging inter-industry spillovers through DIY laboratories: Entrepreneurship and innovation in the global bicycle industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    14. Omezzine, Fakher & Bodas Freitas, Isabel Maria, 2022. "New market creation through exaptation: The role of the founding team's prior professional experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    15. Carmona-Lavado, Antonio & Gimenez-Fernandez, Elena M. & Vlaisavljevic, Vesna & Cabello-Medina, Carmen, 2023. "Cross-industry innovation: A systematic literature review," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    16. , Aisdl, 2019. "Resources of The Serendipity Society," OSF Preprints sb9kp, Center for Open Science.
    17. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive capacity for need knowledge: Antecedents and effects for employee innovativeness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.
    18. Andriani, Pierpaolo & Kaminska, Renata, 2021. "Exploring the dynamics of novelty production through exaptation: a historical analysis of coal tar-based innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    19. , Aisdl, 2020. "Becoming Attuned," OSF Preprints j7f8y, Center for Open Science.
    20. Candiani, Juan Antonio & Gilsing, Victor & Mastrogiorgio, Mariano, 2022. "Technological entry in new niches: Diversity, crowding and generalism," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    21. Schweisfurth, Tim G. & Raasch, Christina, 2018. "Absorptive Capacity for Need Knowledge: Antecedents and Effects for Employee Innovativeness," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 687-699.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aaltonen, Päivi Hanna Maria, 2020. "Piecing together a puzzle—A review and research agenda on internationalization and the promise of exaptation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    2. Tian Heong Chan & Shi-Ying Lim, 2023. "The Emergence of Novel Product Uses: An Investigation of Exaptations in IKEA Hacks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(5), pages 2870-2892, May.
    3. Shubha Patvardhan & J. Ramachandran, 2020. "Shaping the Future: Strategy Making as Artificial Evolution," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 671-697, May.
    4. Simone, Cristina & Barile, Sergio & Grandinetti, Roberto, 2021. "The emergence of new market spaces: Brokerage and firm cognitive endowment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 457-466.
    5. Omezzine, Fakher & Bodas Freitas, Isabel Maria, 2022. "New market creation through exaptation: The role of the founding team's prior professional experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(5).
    6. Mastrogiorgio, Mariano & Gilsing, Victor, 2016. "Innovation through exaptation and its determinants: The role of technological complexity, analogy making & patent scope," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1419-1435.
    7. Codini, Anna Paola & Abbate, Tindara & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2023. "Business Model Innovation and exaptation: A new way of innovating in SMEs," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    8. Andriani, Pierpaolo & Carignani, Giuseppe, 2014. "Modular exaptation: A missing link in the synthesis of artificial form," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1608-1620.
    9. De Noni, Ivan & Ganzaroli, Andrea & Pilotti, Luciano, 2021. "Spawning exaptive opportunities in European regions: The missing link in the smart specialization framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    10. Mario Daniele Amore & Mariano Mastrogiorgio, 2022. "Technological Entry, Redeployability, and Firm Value," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(7), pages 1688-1722, November.
    11. Andriani, Pierpaolo & Kaminska, Renata, 2021. "Exploring the dynamics of novelty production through exaptation: a historical analysis of coal tar-based innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    12. Beltagui, Ahmad & Rosli, Ainurul & Candi, Marina, 2020. "Exaptation in a digital innovation ecosystem: The disruptive impacts of 3D printing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    13. Candiani, Juan Antonio & Gilsing, Victor & Mastrogiorgio, Mariano, 2022. "Technological entry in new niches: Diversity, crowding and generalism," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    14. Teppo Felin & Stuart Kauffman & Todd Zenger, 2023. "Resource origins and search," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1514-1533, June.
    15. Dew, Nicholas & Read, Stuart & Sarasvathy, Saras D. & Wiltbank, Robert, 2008. "Outlines of a behavioral theory of the entrepreneurial firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 37-59, April.
    16. James, Steffan & Liu, Zheng & Stephens, Victoria & White, Gareth R.T., 2022. "Innovation in crisis: The role of ‘exaptive relations’ for medical device development in response to COVID-19," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    17. Paiola, Marco & Schiavone, Francesco & Khvatova, Tatiana & Grandinetti, Roberto, 2021. "Prior knowledge, industry 4.0 and digital servitization. An inductive framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    18. Galvin, Peter & Burton, Nicholas & Nyuur, Richard, 2020. "Leveraging inter-industry spillovers through DIY laboratories: Entrepreneurship and innovation in the global bicycle industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    19. Pierpaolo Andriani & Renata Kaminska, 2020. "Exploring the dynamics of novelty production through exaptation: a historical analysis of coal tar-based innovations," Post-Print halshs-03070325, HAL.
    20. Stav Rosenzweig, 2017. "The effects of diversified technology and country knowledge on the impact of technological innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 564-584, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:28:y:2017:i:2:p:320-338. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.