A configurational approach to network topology design for product innovation

This research exploits a novel configurational approach for technological companies to investigate the effects of network topology on innovation using the configurational theory assumptions. Network topologies attract a substantial amount of theoretical attention, and researchers envision that they can enhance creativity. The most recent studies focus on the isolated analysis of network qualities; however, this study introduces a set-theoretic approach to investigate the interdependencies of the small-world degrees of innovation. Thus, this research applies a qualitative comparative analysis to a unique dataset of 10 innovator companies with 150 smartphones between 2010 and 2015. The empirical results of this study demonstrate the role of small-world innovation configurations in fostering product innovation. Through the introduction of a configurational perspective to the network topology discussion, this study examines equifinality in small-world design and advances the theory concerning interdependencies within the network topology construct.