I am not very familiar with Actor-Network Theory yet, but as far as I understand it is applied in STS, whereas Innovation studies use maybe more case-studies or so. I am doing a research on innovation in bioenergy diffusion in two regional case studies and I will study actors and networks that characterize the system and also (among other things) how this helps innovation in bioenergy diffusion.
Thank you in advance
Bianca
There are many articles applying actor-network theory to innovation, for example:
Akrich, M., Callon, M., Latour, B., 2002a. The key to success in innovation part 1: the art of interessement. International Journal of Innovation Management 6, 187-206.
Akrich, M., Callon, M., Latour, B., 2002b. The key to success in innovation part II: the art of choosing good spokespersons. International Journal of Innovation Management 6, 207-255.
Harrisson, D., Laberge, M., 2002. Innovation, Identities and Resistance: The Social Construction of An Innovation Network. Journal of Management Studies 39, 497-521.
Wiskerke, J.S.C., Roep, D., 2007. Constructing a sustainable pork supply chain: A case of techno-institutional innovation. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 9, 53-74.
we also applied this type of approach in a paper which can be found on ResearchGate, see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223092534_Adaptive_management_in_agricultural_innovation_systems_The_interactions_between_innovation_networks_and_their_environment?ev=prf_pub
Article Adaptive management in agricultural innovation systems: The ...
M. Callon has some very good articles on this topic. Laurens has listed a couple of them. There is another one that I could recommend in the context of participatory innovation:
Callon, M. (2004). The role of hybrid communities and socio-technical arrangements in the participatory design. Journal of the Centre for Information Studies, 5(3), 3-10.
Dear Bianca Cavicchi,
In your case of research of innovation diffusion in two regional case studies,
you cas use for your study of actors and networks that caracterize the system and how this help innovation :
-Rui Baptista (2001). Geographical Clusters and Innovation Diffusion. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 66, Issue 1, Pages 31-46
- see this type of approach in my paper which can be found on ResearchGate,
Best regards
Dorota Leszczynska
Article Historical Trajectory and Knowledge Embeddedness: A Case Stu...
Dear all,
thank you so much for you inputs and suggestions. Very valuable and useful!
Bianca
I am not sure whether your main interest is in how innovations are created, and the networks involved in creating innovations, or how innovations are diffused, and the networks involved in diffusion. Of course, where innovations are complex the two can overlap considerably.
If it is the diffusion of innovations you are interested in then actor-network theory is one of the main research traditions. Even the very early diffusion studies like the 'hybrid corn' and 'Gammanym' studies by Everett Rogers include elements of actor network theory, although it wasn't called that.
"Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis" by Carrington, Scott and Wasserman has a chapter on how to analyse networks in diffusion studies. Its a bit old, but good text book stuff.
You can also have a look on the work of Eoin Whelan - you have an example of his results in his article "Creating employee networks that deliver open innovation" in the MIT Sloan Management Review in 2011
The International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation (IJANTTI) publishes research articles covering a wide range of topics related to actor-network theory (ANT) and its use as a means of exploring socio-technical phenomena. An important goal for the journal is to facilitate publication of the body of research relating to the use of actor-network theory as a means of understanding various socio-technical phenomena and providing examples and case studies of technological innovation. The journal facilitates the distribution of a wide range of research of this type. Much, but not all, of this research relates to the implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), as these inevitably involve interactions between technology and people. This is the area in which ANT is particularly useful and articles along these lines are encouraged. Other areas of special interest are the use of ANT as an analytical framework for research in education and in nursing. This journal covers a range of topics related to actor-network theory (ANT). These topics include the development of actor-network theory itself, as well as case studies of its use to assist in the explanation of various socio-technical phenomena. It also includes topics relating to technological innovation, both those using actor-network theory as an explanatory framework and those using other approaches.
ANT approaches are exceptionally relevant to innovation as so many great innovations come from the overlapping boundaries of different areas bringing different technologies together to create something unexpected and completely new. See:
The role of a single actor in technical innovation and network evolution: An historical analysis of the leather network
Michael Redwood
David Ford
Journal of Customer Behaviour 01/2012; 11(2). DOI: 10.1362/147539212X13420906144750
Hi Bianca, if you search for papers under my name on Research Gate you will find several examples of the use of ANT, and these papers in turn contain extensive references
David
When using ANT, what is the best method to get it? Research in primary sources? interviews? Can someone recommend me methods to implement ANT pls?
Dear Bianca,
Here are some of our studies on innovation system using social network analysis. We used a survey approach to collect ANT data.
Poster Effects of Multi-stakeholder Platforms (MSP) on Innovation N...
Article Social network analysis of multi-stakeholder platforms in ag...
Poster Social Network Approach for Guiding and Leveraging R4D Investments
Presentation Social Network Analysis for Research for Development
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/47c7/68a31c32cb6e028167928479a3ce2b125981.pdf
Article An Actor-Network Theory Analysis of Policy Innovation for Sm...
https://www.igi-global.com/book/actor-network-theory-technology-innovation/45978
https://www.igi-global.com/article/actor-network-theory-service-innovation/1376
Dear Bianca,
here is my contribution.
Chapter On the Processes of Technical Change and Development in Lati...
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