Special Issue on: Designing internal organization for external knowledge sourcing
本特刊旨在连接组织设计与外部知识搜索两个研究领域，探讨企业如何设计内部结构和边界以有效利用外部知识，推动两者间的有益对话。
Abstract It is well established that heterogeneity among firms shapes their abilities to introduce process and product innovation. Moreover, few will dispute that such heterogeneity is triggered by differences in internal organizational structures, in the use of management practices, in resources available, and in the interaction with external actors. However, little is known about how firms design their boundaries and internal organizations to enable them to explore and exploit knowledge from external sources of knowledge. In addition, the innovation‐search literature widely treats organizational design as being fixed across these otherwise heterogeneous firms, neglecting the investigation of how particular organizational structures and management practices fit the interaction with specific types of sources, the motivations of these sources, and with modes of external interaction. Accordingly, this special issue intends to bridge research on organizational design and architecture on the one hand, and research on firms' external knowledge search on the other, in the attempt to pave a way for a mutually beneficial dialogue.