Being a Catalyst of Innovation: The Role of Knowledge Diversity and Network Closure

Marco Tortoriello, Bill McEvily, David Krackhardt · 2014 · Organization Science

Summary. This study identifies innovation catalysts—people who support and promote colleagues' innovativeness—within organizational research teams. The researchers found that individuals with access to diverse knowledge through closed networks become effective catalysts. Analyzing 276 R&D researchers at a multinational tech company, they show catalysts significantly boost their colleagues' patent applications, revealing an important but overlooked role in the innovation process beyond inventors themselves.

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@article{tortoriello-2014-being-catalyst-innovation-role-knowledge,
  title   = {Being a Catalyst of Innovation: The Role of Knowledge Diversity and Network Closure},
  author  = {Marco Tortoriello and Bill McEvily and David Krackhardt},
  journal = {Organization Science},
  year    = {2014},
  doi     = {10.1287/orsc.2014.0942},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0942}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Being a Catalyst of Innovation: The Role of Knowledge Diversity and Network Closure
AU  - Marco Tortoriello
AU  - Bill McEvily
AU  - David Krackhardt
JO  - Organization Science
PY  - 2014
DO  - 10.1287/orsc.2014.0942
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2014.0942
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1287/orsc.2014.0942

Countries

Spain, Canada, United States

Regions

Europe, North America

Categories

innovation-theory, innovation-networks, general-innovation

Added

2026-04-28