The Antecedents and Innovation Consequences of Organizational Knowledge Brokering Capability

We empirically examine the antecedents and innovation consequences of organizational knowledge brokering capability, the ability to effectively apply knowledge from one technical domain to innovate in another. We do so by tracking all the start-up biotechnology firms founded to commercialize the then-emergent recombinant DNA technology. Building on prior research in this area, we extend the knowledge brokering concept by examining how firms’ interaction with their external environment helps bolster their heterogeneous knowledge brokering capacity, which in turn is associated with uneven ex-post innovation performance. Our results suggest that (a) knowledge brokering capability is achieved by striking equity strategic alliances and by hiring technical personnel who had previously patented in areas different than the firm’s areas of expertise; (b) knowledge brokering has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovative performance; and (c) there are important conceptual and empirical reasons to consider a variety of modes of knowledge brokering (rather than a monolithic conceptualization). Overall, the results suggest that knowledge brokering can be an important organizational capability.