Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Shadow Options: Emergent Functions of Corning’s Glass-Based Innovations
整合西蒙和亚瑟的理论，提出分析企业现有技术中隐藏的“影子期权”如何转化为真实期权的框架，并以康宁光敏玻璃技术为例，区分熊彼特型和柯兹纳型两种转化路径，解释企业如何系统利用这些期权进行创新。
By integrating Herbert Simon’s theory of artifact and Brian Arthur’s concept of functionality in technology, we propose a novel conceptual framework for analyzing the process by which shadow options embedded in a firm’s existing technologies emerge and are converted into real options. We apply this framework to examine the shadow options of Corning’s photosensitive glass technologies. The core of our model is that technologies subsume options, most of which are shadow because they refer to functions of those resources that were unknown when they were originally acquired or created. Shadow options are hidden in functionalities. Functionalities and functions are relational entities that exist at the interface between an artifact’s inner and outer environments. The transformation of shadow into real options occurs along a continuum, with two distinct types represented at its extremes: the Schumpeterian and Kirznerian types. We examine organizational attributes that enable Schumpeterian and Kirznerian shadow options and explain how firms can systematically pursue an innovation strategy that exploits the shadow options embedded in their technologies.