Companies are reaping the benefits from social and business networking clusters. It takes just a few individuals who link clusters to help the information flow more quickly between businesses, which in turn can influence creativity and potentially increase a company's innovation.
Researchers at the University of Washington and New York University who examined networks of companies in relation to their creative strengths have discovered that it is, indeed, a small world. When companies are indirectly linked in a network of strategic alliance relationships with only a few degrees of separation, they are more innovative. The study by researchers Corey Phelps of the UW Business School and Melissa Schilling (NYU) was partially supported by the National Science Foundation, and appears in the July issue of Management Science.
Ideas with Impact
Interdisciplinary Strength
"While many fine universities can work on pieces of problems, the UW is one of the few places that can tackle the biggest, most complex, and most challenging problems of all time."
- UW President, Mark Emmert
