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A field study of top management teams and knowledge workers from 72 technology firms demonstrated that the rate of new product and service introduction was a function of organization members' ability to combine and exchange knowledge. We tested the following as bases of that ability: the existing knowledge of employees (their education levels and functional heterogeneity), knowledge from member ego networks (number of direct contacts and strength of ties), and organizational climates for risk taking and teamwork.
Smith et al. (Fri,) studied this question.