Lori Rosenkopf

• Thomas Klueter, Anindya Ghosh, Lori Rosenkopf (2024), Not in-sourced here! When does external technology sourcing yield familiar versus novel solutions?, Strategic Management Journal. Abstract

  Research Summary
  When established firms source technology from specialized technology firms, extant research has typically assumed that this in-sourced technology is novel. We test this assumption by modeling in-sourcing decisions using a problem-solution lens wherein firms choose from available external technological solutions to solve their market problems. Since the locus of identification, evaluation, and selection of external solutions remains internal to the firm’s R&D personnel, we argue that they frequently prefer familiar over novel solutions. We identify two factors that help firms overcome this preference for familiarity: when top managers focus their attention on the market problem or when they receive feedback from unexpected failures to solve that problem. Our case control analysis of 715 in-sourced emerging technological solutions in the biopharmaceutical industry offers broad support to our theoretical framework.

  Managerial Summary
  Established firms are commonly advised to source novel technologies externally. Yet since this sourcing process is driven by in-house R&D personnel, we suggest that a firm’s choice of external technology solutions may still tend toward familiar ones. We confirm this preference by examining in-sourcing events of emerging technological solutions by established firms in the biopharmaceutical industry. Despite this preference, we then show that increased top management attention toward a market problem and experiencing unexpected failures in bringing products to market catalyze a receptiveness to novel technological solutions. Our findings help managers in established firms recognize that their claims or intentions to seek novel technology are not always consistent with actual in-sourcing choices, and suggest when firms can overcome this tendency.

• Valentina Assenova, Emilie Feldman, Lori Rosenkopf (Working), Conflicts of interest reduce the diffusion of microfinance. Abstract

  Existing studies on innovation diffusion in networks have established that the high network connectivity of “central” actors increases diffusion. However, this research has not accounted for the possibility that the multiple connections of central actors could generate conflicts of interest that impede diffusion. Using data from a prominent field experiment that revealed the usual association between the centrality of “community leaders” tasked with promoting microfinance and its subsequent diffusion, we document a negative relationship between leaders’ lending relationships and microfinance diffusion. That is, leaders who lend are less inclined to promote microfinance because doing so could compromise the returns from their lending relationships. Our analyses show that leaders with conflicts of interest are less effective conduits for innovation diffusion than their centrality might predict.

• Ram Ranganathan, Anindya Ghosh, Lori Rosenkopf (2018), Competition-cooperation interplay during multi-firm technology coordination: The effect of firm heterogeneity on conflict and consensus in a technology standards organization, Strategic Management Journal, 39:3193-3221.
• A. Ghosh, R. Ranganathan, Lori Rosenkopf (2016), The impact of context and model choice on the determinants of strategic alliance formation: Evidence from a staged replication study, Strategic Management Journal, 37:2204-2221.
• A. Ghosh and Lori Rosenkopf (2015), Shrouded in structure: Challenges and opportunities for a friction-based view of network research, Organization Science, 26:622-631.
• R. Ranganathan and Lori Rosenkopf (2014), Do ties really bind? The effect of knowledge and commercialization networks on opposition to standards, Academy of Management Journal, 57:515-540.
• G. Dokko, A. Nigam, Lori Rosenkopf (2012), Keeping steady as she goes: A negotiated order perspective on technological evolution, Organization Studies, 33:681-703. Abstract

  A central idea in the theory of technology cycles is that social and political mechanisms are most important during the selection of a dominant design, and that eras of incremental change are socially uninteresting periods in which innovation is driven by technological momentum and elaboration of the dominant design. In this essay, we overturn the ontological assumption that social order is inherently stable, drawing on Anselm Strauss’s concept of negotiated order to analyze the persistence of a dominant design as a social accomplishment: an outcome of ongoing processes that reinforce or challenge a socially negotiated order. Thus, we shift focus from battles over standards to periods of normal innovation. We extend the technology cycles model to explain social dynamics in periods of incremental change, and to make predictions specifying how contextual conditions in standards-setting organizations affect social interaction, leading to reinforcement or challenge to a socio-technical order.

• D. Lavie, J. Kang, Lori Rosenkopf (2011), Balancing exploration and exploitation within and across domains: Evaluation of performance implications in alliance portfolios, Organization Science, 22:1517-1538. Abstract

  Organizational research advocates that firms balance exploration and exploitation, yet it acknowledges inherent challenges in reconciling these opposing activities. To overcome these challenges, such research suggests that firms establish organizational separation between exploring and exploiting units or engage in temporal separation whereby they oscillate between exploration and exploitation over time. Nevertheless, these approaches entail resource allocation trade-offs and conflicting organizational routines, which may undermine organizational performance as firms seek to balance exploration and exploitation within a discrete field of organizational activity (i.e., domain). We posit that firms can overcome such impediments and enhance their performance if they explore in one domain while exploiting in another. Studying the alliance portfolios of software firms, we demonstrate that firms do not typically benefit from balancing exploration and exploitation within the function domain (technology versus marketing and production alliances) and structure domain (new versus prior partners). Nevertheless, firms that balance exploration and exploitation across these domains by engaging in research and development alliances while collaborating with their prior partners, or alternatively, by forming marketing and production alliances while seeking new partners, gain in profits and market value. Moreover, we reveal that increases in firm size that exacerbate resource allocation trade-offs and routine rigidity reinforce the benefits of balance across domains and the costs of balance within domains. Our domain separation approach offers new insights into how firms can benefit from balancing exploration and exploitation. What matters is not simply whether firms balance exploration and exploitation in their alliance formation decisions but the means by which they achieve such balance.

• Lori Rosenkopf and Patia McGrath (2011), Advancing the Conceptualization and Operationalization of Novelty in Organizational Research, Organization Science, 22:1297-1311. Abstract

  The construct of novelty is an important primitive for theories of organization learning, strategic change, and innovation. The organizational pursuit of novelty is generally theorized as necessary for long-term organizational adaptation and survival yet variance increasing in the short term. We argue that the recent explosion of studies of exploration and exploitation tend to conceptualize and operationalize novelty quite narrowly. In contrast, we treat novelty as a multidimensional construct and discuss implications of this approach for future research.

• G. Dokko and Lori Rosenkopf (2010), Social Capital for Hire? Mobility of Technical Professionals and Firm Influence in Wireless Standard Committees, Organization Science, 21:677-695. Abstract

  The movement of personnel between firms has been shown to have important implications for firms, yet there has been little direct investigation of the underlying mechanisms. We propose that in addition to their human capital, mobile individuals carry social capital, affecting the outcomes of the firms they join and leave by altering the patterns of interaction between firms. In this study, we examine how job mobility affects firm influence in a technical standards setting committee for U.S. wireless telecommunications. We hypothesize and find that hiring individuals who are richer in social capital increases firm influence in technical standards setting committees by increasing the hiring firm’s social capital. We also find the benefits of hiring social capital are attenuated when an interfirm relationship is maintained by multiple individuals. In contrast, we find that the loss of personnel does not affect a firm’s social capital or influence over standards directly but that it does have an effect on firm social capital and influence contingent on changes in the firm’s business strategy. In advancing these arguments, we address the broader question of individuals as carriers of social capital and the conditions under which interpersonal connections are appropriable by firms.

• All Research from Lori Rosenkopf »

Past Courses

• MGMT2370 - Management of Technology

  The course is designed to meet the needs of the future managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors who must analyze and develop business strategies in technology-based industries. The emphasis is on learning conceptual models and frameworks to help navigate the complexity and dynamism in such industries. This is not a course in new product development or in using information technology to improve business processes and offerings. We will take a perspective of both established and emerging firms competing through technological innovations, and study the key strategic drivers of value creation and appropriation in the context of business ecosystems. In addition to prerequisites, this course is exclusively reserved for Management and Technology students.

• MGMT2650 - Culture of Technology

  Academics, students and practitioners alike are fascinated by the culture of tech sector - its people, practices, and organization. In this course we explore this sector using a combination of research papers, press coverage, and practitioner involvement. Each class session will be devoted to discussion of a single research article, during which we will be joined via state-of-the-art videoconferencing by a Wharton alum from the tech sector whose expertise is relevant to the paper topic. Therefore, the learning objectives half-credit course are to: 1) understand the managerial, organizational, and regional institutions that characterize the tech sector, with particular emphasis on the case of Silicon Valley 2)Bridge research and practice by critical analysis of academic research papers in conjunction with practitioner input 3) Forge connections with tech sector practitioners, particularly with our west coast alumni base.

• MGMT7310 - Technology Strategy

  The course is designed to meet the needs of future managers, entrepreneurs, consultants and investors who must analyze and develop business strategies in technology-based industries. The emphasis is on learning conceptual models and frameworks to help navigate the complexity and dynamism in such industries. This is not a course in new product development or in using information technology to improve business processes and offerings. We will take a perspective of both established and emerging firms competing through technological innovations, and study the key strategic drivers of value creation and appropriation in the context of business ecosystems. The course uses a combination of cases, simulation and readings. The cases are drawn primarily from technology-based industries. Note, however, that the case discussions are mainly based on strategic (not technical) issues. Hence, a technical background is not required for fruitful participation.

• MGMT7990 - Special Topics MGMT

  Courses offered of various topics and points of focus, ranging across multiple concentrations of Management, (i.e., Entrepreneurial, Strategy, Organizational Business, etc.).

• MGMT9350 - Netwrk Theory & Applicat

  This course explores network models and their applications to organizational phenomena. By examining the structure of relations among actors, network approaches seek to explain variations in beliefs, behaviors, and outcomes. The beauty of network analysis is its underlying mathematical nature - network ideas and measures, in some cases, apply equally well at micro and macro levels of analysis. Therefore, we read and discuss articles both at the micro level (where the network actors are individuals within organizations) and at the macro level (where the network actors are organizations within larger communities) that utilize antecedents or consequences of network constructs such as small worlds, cohesion, structural equivalence, centrality, and autonomy. We begin by examining the classic problem of contagion of information and behaviors across networks, and follow by considering the various underlying models of network structure that might underlie contagion and other processes The next two sessions address a variety of mechanisms by which an actor's position in a network affects its behavior or performance. Then, the following two sessions address antecedents of network ties via the topics of network evolution and network activation. We close with a "grab bag" session of articles chosen to match class interests.

• MGMT9520 - Sem Macro Org Behav

  Organizations are ubiquitous, and so is organization. This half-semester course explores organization theory (OT) from the 1960s through the end of the 20th century. We will examine the proliferation of organizational theories during this time period (such as contingency theory, resource dependence theory, ecological theory, and institutional theory) and understand how each theory attempts to relate structure and action over varying levels of analysis. We will determine one or two additional schools to add once we discuss your exposure in other management classes to other potential topics such as behavioral decision theory, sense-making and cognition, organizational economics, corporate governance, social networks, and the like.

• WH1010 - Business and You

  WH 1010 is the first step of the Leadership Journey at Wharton. The course is designed to fuel students' unique interests in academic, research, and professional pursuits; to raise awareness of the complexity of business; and to increase understanding of the interrelatedness of business disciplines. Students will also acquire greater awareness of their strengths and leadership potential as members of the Wharton community and as future professionals. Students will come to appreciate that leadership is an act and best developed through study, feedback from trusted colleagues and peers, and stretch experiences that stimulate growth and development. Students will also begin to hone skills essential to the pursuit of personal, academic, and professional goals: thinking creatively, analyzing problems, applying what you have learned, and reflecting on learnings. A case-analysis project will engage students with the community through helping local agencies examine business challenges that they face. This course is for Wharton students only.

• WH2970 - Wh Industry Exploration

  WIEP features short-term courses that focus on various industries and feature visits to businesses, lectures, extracurricular activities, and networking opportunities with alumni. Students must apply online: https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/wiep/

• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2020
• Elected member (one of 100), Macro-Organizational Behavior Society (MOBS), 2008
• Best Management Paper Award, SDA Bocconi, 2007
• David Hauck Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, 2006
• Finalist, Best Paper Award, Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management, 2003
• Best Paper Award, Technology and Innovation Management Division of Administrative Sciences Association of Canada / International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management, 2000
• Junior Faculty Research Awards, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1994
• Finalist, Best Dissertation Proposal Competition, TIMS College on Organization, 1992
• Columbia/Sloan Workshop Fellowship, Columbia Law School, 1992
• Center for the Social Sciences Fellowship, Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 1990
• Best Paper Award, Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management, 1990
• American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business Fellowship, 1988

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Building Stronger Family Offices by Sharing Knowledge and Securing the Future, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/21/2024
• State of the NBA with Seth Partnow, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/20/2024
• How Are Companies Really Using AI? A New Report Has Answers, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Impact vs. Time: A Leader’s Guide to Slow Productivity, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Kevin O’Leary Illustrates the Benefits of Tariffs for U.S. Businesses, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Boosting Donations Through Self-expressive Choices | Jonah Berger, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/19/2024
• Why Are Hospitals So Expensive?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/18/2024
• New Phenomena in Behavioral and Social Investing, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/18/2024
• Bigger Hospitals, Better Care? Wharton Research Finds Benefits Are Only at the Operational Level, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/14/2024
• Linda Dow Cash, CEO, Two Chicks Cocktails, Knowledge @ Wharton - 11/14/2024