Kafouros, M., Mavroudi, E. orcid.org/0000-0003-2870-1661, Aliyev, M. et al. (1 more author) (2025) Technological complexity and the creation of impactful technologies: The role of inventors' international diversity and expertise. Journal of International Management. 101239. ISSN 1075-4253
Abstract
Given that highly impactful technologies can generate immense value and build competitive advantages for MNEs, it is crucial to understand how they can successfully create them. This study's overarching contribution lies in explaining how MNEs can assemble inventor teams and optimize their composition to overcome the challenges of technological complexity and create highly impactful technologies. Analyzing a sample of 2.3 million technologies created by 183,833 firms across 139 countries, the study reveals that MNEs with teams that are internationally diverse (multi-country) and possess greater technological expertise are better equipped to leverage complex knowledge in technology creation. Importantly, it also indicates that while international diversity is less effective in making teams more innovative across all levels of complexity, its value lies in delaying the point at which extreme complexity hinders technology creation. In contrast, technological expertise helps team create more impactful technologies at any level of complexity but is less effective in postponing the point where extreme complexity becomes overwhelming. These insights underscore that international diversity and technological expertise are complementary, supporting MNE teams in distinct but synergistic ways.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | International diversity; Technological complexity; Team expertise; Innovation; Knowledge recombination |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Marketing Division (LUBS) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Feb 2025 15:48 |
Last Modified: | 25 Feb 2025 15:48 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.intman.2025.101239 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:223723 |