Abstract
There is empirical evidence regarding the role of certain key individuals in the creation of technological knowledge. In particular, studies of knowledge-based industries have identified the significant roles of key scientists and key engineers in the process of technological innovation (Zucker and Darby, 1996, 1998, and Almeida and Kogut, 1997). With respect to the process of technological invention, (2003) using patent data provided by the US Patent Office found a high positive correlation between the presence of consistent inventors or strong inventors (who patented from 10 to 50 times during the period under observation) and the technological value of patented inventions as measured by the number of citations to the patent by subsequent patents. The Patent Value survey provides the opportunity to make value comparisons. (1992) pointed out that, among the factors which could explain the success of a firm’s innovative strategy, was the presence of certain key individuals: effective “product champions” or “technological gatekeepers”. He considered product champions and project leaders as playing an important role in achieving both more successful and faster new product development. Many other scholars in the field of management and organization have emphasized the importance of individuals in the generation and promotion of ideas in the innovation process as well. Individuals emerge to actively promote innovations through the various organizational stages.
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Latham, W., Le Bas, C., Touach, K. (2006). Characteristics of Persistent Inventors as Revealed in Patent Data. In: Latham, W.R., Le Bas, C. (eds) The Economics of Persistent Innovation: An Evolutionary View. Economics of Science, Technology and Innovation, vol 31. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29245-8_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-29245-8_4
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