The formation of international innovation networks in the multinational corporation: an evolutionary perspective

The internationalization of technological capabilities in the multinational corporation has produced a growing number of conceptual frameworks that emphasize the ability to leverage innovation activities in the international innovation network. In particular, it has been stressed that increasingly complex and diverse structures generally provide opportunities to integrate and recombine knowledge across geographically dispersed units. The present study suggests that conceptual work has paid insufficient attention to the relationship between process and structure in the evolving international innovation network. An in-depth, longitudinal study of ASEA/Brown Boveri/ABB underlines the importance of considering historical growth processes and firm-specific events in evaluating the multinational's ability to integrate and recombine knowledge on a global basis.