Bob Kijkuit obtains PhD degree

On May 11, Bob Kijkuit has defended his PhD thesis entitled ‘Social Networks in the Front End: The Organizational Life of an Idea’. Promotor is Prof. Dr Bart Nooteboom, Professor of innovation policy at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Copromotor is Dr.ir. Jan van den Ende, Associate Professor of Management of Technology and Innovation at RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Bob was born in 1980 in Delft, The Netherlands. He finished his secondary education in Vlaardingen in 1998. In 2002, he received his Master’s degree in Business Administration at RSM Erasmus University after which he started as a PhD candidate in the Management of Technology and Innovation Department within the same university.

His research focus is on the role of social networks in NPD contexts. Kijkuit has given presentations on this subject at conferences in both Europe and United States. He has also stayed at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA during the winter semester of 2005 participating in the graduate school program, which was made possible by funding from NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) and the Trustfonds Erasmus University. His work has appeared in conference proceedings and a paper, on which the theoretical chapter of part one was based, has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Management Studies.

As of February 1st 2007, Bob will start working as a Business Analyst for Shell Energy Europe part of the Gas and Power Division of Shell Ltd in Den Haag (The Netherlands).

Abstract
An effective front end (FE) of the new product development (NPD) process is important for innovative performance in companies. To date the NPD literature has mainly focused on the selection process of ideas and very little on the processes that take place before selection. This study aims to fill this gap by focusing on the social dynamics around ideas for new products in the FE. We do so by conducting a longitudinal in-depth study on the social dynamics around 18 ideas. In the first part of this study we focus on the social network of an idea, i.e. the people discussing the idea with each other, and the effect on the adoption of that idea. The results confirm existing views on the importance of large and diverse networks and extend existing insights by showing the importance of strong ties, increased density and involvement of senior management. In the second part we look at how the social networks in the FE are built up and how this is affected by both the formal organizational and network structure itself. The results for this part show that people working on a creative initiative interact more intensively in triads with ‘close friends’ and people they have previously worked with in projects, suggesting that the positive effects associated with such relations, such as psychological safety and communication effectiveness, outweighs the possible adverse effects of a lack of diversity. Implications for management could include stimulating employees to use social networks to further develop ideas possibly introducing formal guidelines, using project-rotation to build networks and reconsider recruitment policies.

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Pictures of the Defense
Full text of the Dissertation