Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2020
  • Article
  • Strategic Management Journal

Jack of All Trades and Master of Knowledge: The Role of Diversification in New Distant Knowledge Integration

By: Frank Nagle and Florenta Teodoridis
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We consider the role of individual-level diversification as a mechanism through which skilled researchers engage in successful exploration—recognizing and integrating new knowledge external to one’s domains of expertise. To approach an ideal experiment, we (1) employ a matching procedure and (2) exploit the unexpected adoption of Microsoft Kinect as a motion-sensing technology in research. We evaluate the impact of Kinect and its embodiment of new knowledge on a set of ability-matched, diversity-varying researchers without prior experience in motion sensing and find that diversified researchers explore more successfully than their more specialized peers. We also examine the role of personal preferences and professional incentives as antecedents of diversification and find that culture, age, and intellectual freedom are positively associated with the propensity to diversify successfully.

Keywords

Individual-level Knowledge Diversification; Novel Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Diversification; Innovation and Invention; Research

Citation

Nagle, Frank, and Florenta Teodoridis. "Jack of All Trades and Master of Knowledge: The Role of Diversification in New Distant Knowledge Integration." Strategic Management Journal 41, no. 1 (January 2020): 55–85.
  • SSRN
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Frank Nagle

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Report on the 2020 FOSS Contributor Survey

    By: Frank Nagle, David Wheeler, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Haylee Ham and Jennifer L. Hoffman
    • 2020
    • Brookings TechStream

    Why Congress Should Invest in Open-Source Software

    By: Frank Nagle
    • September 28, 2020
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    In R&D, Generalists Are More Valuable Than You Think

    By: Frank Nagle and Florenta Teodoridis
More from the Authors
  • Report on the 2020 FOSS Contributor Survey By: Frank Nagle, David Wheeler, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Haylee Ham and Jennifer L. Hoffman
  • Why Congress Should Invest in Open-Source Software By: Frank Nagle
  • In R&D, Generalists Are More Valuable Than You Think By: Frank Nagle and Florenta Teodoridis
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College