Causes of Failure of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Revision Surgical Strategies

( Paolo Di Benedetto ),( Enrico Di Benedetto ),( Andrea Fiocchi ),( Alessandro Beltrame ),( Araldo Causero ) 대한슬관절학회 2016 대한슬관절학회지 Vol.28 No.4

Purpose: Long-term outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are good or excellent; however, 0.7%-20% of patients suffer from recurrent instability due to graft failure. The purpose of this paper was to analyse failure aetiology and the possibilities of revision surgical strategies, with a description of our experience. We obtained optimal and good results in most of our patients. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 42 patients who underwent revision surgery (43 revisions) due to relapsing instability after ACL reconstruction between 2006 and 2015. We used allografts in 39 cases and autografts in 4 cases. Results: The 85.7% of the patients obtained optimal results (normal knee; group A) and the 7.2% obtained good results (nearly normal knee; group B) according to the International Knee Documentation Committee score. The most frequent failure causes were traumatic events, non-anatomic tunnel placement, and lack of graft incorporation. Conclusions: A correct revision surgery requires accurate patient evaluation and knee imaging. Preoperative planning starts with the identification of the cause of failure of the primary reconstruction. Then, the most suitable procedure should be determined for each case. It is also important to accurately inform the patient of all the complexity of an ACL revision surgery even if it is a procedure with high rates of excellent and good outcomes.

Ultra Wide BandWireless Communications : A Tutorial

Di Benedetto , Maria-Gabriella,Vojcic, Branimir-R. The Korea Institute of Information and Commucation 2003 Journal of communications and networks Vol.5 No.4

Ultra wide band (UWB) radio has recently attracted increased attention due to its expected unlicensed operation, and potential to provide very high data rates at relatively short ranges. In this article we briefly describe some main candidate multiple access and modulation schemes for UWB communications, followed with their power spectral density calculation and properties. We also present some illustrative capacity results, and provide a discussion of the impact of network topology on multiple access capacity.

産品設計: 硏究趨勢與未來規劃

( C. Anthony Di Benedetto ) 한국마케팅과학회 2012 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.3 No.3

産品設計无疑是使新産品暢銷的重要因素, 新産品設計的學術硏究也越來越廣泛。近年來, 對于設計的新定義層出不窮, 而且對于能구創造意義與創新過程的設計的作用也有新的理解。在這樣一個高速發展的硏究領域里, 我們面臨着許多富有挑戰性、高難度的問題。如下궤方面的問題就有待硏究: 作爲一種戰略資源的設計的重要性, 新産品團隊中設計師的地位, 在産品設計中顧客意見的采納以及産品設計是즘樣在不同文化中傳播的。本文旨在對如上궤方面及産品設計硏究相關問題進行分析。本文首先討論了在創新設計新理論中設計的作用。傳統認爲, 産品創新的動力來自于市場或者科技。在兩種情況下, 設計都有改良的作用(使産品設計更符合顧客期望或者産品性能特点)。著名的設計學家Roberto Verganti指出, 像Alessi這樣的大設計公司都將設計看作是偉大創新的動力。産品設計還未有被公認的定義, 但在産品設計師眼中産品設計的作用及其在企業中的重要性是无需置疑的。卽使在企業的最高戰略層中, 設計也是産品創新中重要的一環。出色的設計可以使企業在以下궤方面奪得競爭優勢: 通過設計降低生産成本或快速將産品投放到可以帶來成本效益市場中, 同時通過設計可以加大産品差異性或者滿足顧客需求。在企業環保義務方面, 通過産品設計還可以提高可持續發展的能力。凡此種種原因, 加强産品設計的力度可以提高企業的競爭力。在創新這一學術領域中, 與之相近的課題便是新産品團隊中成員的合作與團結。但是, 之前的硏究都將重点放到市場中的互動, 硏究與開發與制造業員工方面, 却忽視了設計師的地位。新興的硏究重在分析營銷人員與設計師的中間層面, 這樣便能구在新産品生産過程的初始階段乃至全過程中引進工效學及美學。령一個需要考慮的問題是近年來跨國新産品團隊是즘樣運作的。設計師們正面臨這一問題, 他們必須與世界各地的同事共事幷且爲全世界的客戶進行産品設計。設計普遍性這一課題在學術領域中被發掘潛力還흔大, 這里我們부부是在新産品發展這一課題中開了一個頭。最近, 設計學中又開피了一個新硏究領域, 主要分析了顧客意見的作用。在當下的産品配置中(消費者可以網絡購物幷且T恤衫, 포鞋, 手表甚至汽車都可以自行設計。顧客意見的价値尙是一個有爭議的話題。相關的硏究員通過衡量購買意愿的强度來評고用戶貢獻的价値, 幷且發現顧客意見確實可以提高其他顧客的購買意愿進而高价購買, 這是因爲顧客設計的産品更加适應用戶偏好。同樣, 這是一個能구引起興趣的學科, 但仍有待發展。綜合考慮産品創新學科中以上及其他最新硏究趨勢, 本文爲産品設計提出了未來硏究規劃。通過大量的文獻, 其中包括關于設計的最前沿的創新期刊, 本文闡述了在發展硏究規劃中有助于激勵設計硏究員的硏究趨勢。除上文論述外, 這些趨勢還包括: 産品設計中形式與功能的互動; 産品設計對産品意義的影響; 設計對享樂主義行爲的影響; B2B産品與服務中的設計; 設計與環境以及産品設計變化與提高的表現結果。最后, 本文討論了這些趨勢是즘樣影響硏究員以及最新時尙與奢侈品牌商品相關從業人員的。 Academic research in product design is growing in popularity, and new challenging research questions are emerging. This article explores several of these product design research issues. We first explore the role of design as a driver of innovation and as a strategic resource to senior managers for competitive advantage. We revisit the topic of functional integration on the new product team, focusing in particular on the cooperation between designers and marketers. There is also a rich literature emerging on customer-initiated design and user toolkits for design, and we explore this intriguing stream as well. Considering these topics, and several others identified in a recent special issue on design research in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, we present an agenda for research in product design. We conclude with a discussion of how these design research trends affect researchers as well as practitioners involved in high-fashion or luxury-brand goods.

From the special issue editors: Global Business-to-Business Marketing

C. Anthony Di Benedetto,한상린 한국마케팅과학회 2016 마케팅과학연구 Vol.26 No.1

Welcome to the JGSMS Special Issue on Global Business-to-Business Marketing! Our global marketplace presents unique challenges to firms that sell goods and services in the business-to-business (B2B) market. B2B marketing is perhaps less appreciated because many B2B marketing activities are behind the scenes for most people. We go into an auto dealership and purchase a car – one business-to-consumer (B2C) transaction. Consider how many B2B transactions occurred in the process of manufacturing that car and bringing it to the consumer (for example, dozens or hundreds of suppliers provide parts and components, capital equipment, soft ware, consulting services and so forth). Consider also how the firm will seek economies in car manufacture, for example, by developing a single platform upon which many lines of cars may be manufactured over several years. Other opportunities for economies may exist in operations, or procurement, or research and development (R&D). Ultimately, all of these components of the B2B marketing activity network combine to offer increased value to the ultimate consumer. Here is the point: all of these components become ten times, or a hundred times, more complex once the firm is on a global scale. And, like competitors in so many other industries, car manufacturers have gone global in a big way. In many ways, B2B marketing resembles B2C marketing. Analysis of the customer base, the competition and the market and technology environment leads to the development of a marketing strategy (segmentation, targeting and positioning) and marketing programs (product, price, promotion and distribution). Brand value is also becoming critical, even in the B2B market setting (Han & Sung, 2008 ). But there are special challenges facing B2B marketers, especially those operating on a global scale. Product demand may be very volatile and uncertain, and demand may depend heavily on the target country’s stage of development. Steel exporters, for example, might target countries in early stages of development (some parts of the Middle East, for example, or sub-Saharan Africa) due to their great need for basic infrastructure. Also, unlike B2C producers, B2B marketers experience the effects of derived demand. As was illustrated by the “ Intel Inside ” campaign, derived demand is one of the most representative characteristics of B2B marketing. A components manufacturer for the car or aircraft industry experiences sales shortfalls and possibly inventory overstock if demand for cars or aircraft slows. Some carmakers may have better strategies for smoothing out peaks and valleys in fi nal demand, which in turn lessens unpredictability due to derived demand. Toyota or Ford, for example, produce and sell cars in many parts of the world, so a slowdown in the European market may be balanced by stable sales in North America. On the other hand, there are oft en fewer differences due to cultural reasons, so adaptation of the product or other marketing programs may not be necessary. Businesses in Southeast Asia, Western Europe or North or South America all need laptops, soft ware, projectors, copiers, phones, and so forth, and requirements and preferences are not so different. All B2B marketers care about quality, of course, but when operating on a global scale, one must consider global quality standards. Manufacturers wishing to export parts and components for sale strive to meet ISO 9000 certification standards. This is a set of industrial standards developed to assess and assure quality control, including quality of delivery and levels of customer satisfaction. Many B2B buyers, in fact, will not even purchase components from a company that does not have ISO 9000 certifi cation. At the same time, getting and maintaining the certifi cation can be a big competitive advantage for a B2B marketer. Let us not forget the importance of B2B services. Many service providers, such as banks, advertising agencies, market research firms, accoun...

From the Special Issue Editor

C. Anthony Di Benedetto 한국마케팅과학회 2015 마케팅과학연구 Vol.25 No.1

Welcome to the JGSMS Special Issue on Global New Product Development!In today’s global marketplace, firms need to consider how to leverage their globalscale and scope in order to improve new product development. In the car industry, forexample, it is hard to imagine a major car company trying to protect its home nichemarket. Its competitors have already extended their scope to many manufacturing anddesign centers around the world, resulting in better products that incorporate bettertechnology, developed in less time and at lower overall cost. Consider Ford as a typicalexample. Ford has incorporated a Global Product Development System and a GlobalVehicle Program. Since the inception of these programs, Ford has specialized theengineering for each car component by location. One engineering plant, for example, isresponsible for exhaust systems for all cars using a given platform and sold worldwide;another would be assigned the task of engineering all steering columns. Since the design ofthese components is consistent globally, every Ford built on a given platform will “feel”the same and “sound” the same when being driven, regardless of where it was actuallymade. Ford claims reductions in engineering costs of 60% between 2005 and 2008, andnew global cars such as the Ford Fusion have been successfully launched into the worldmarket (Vasilash, 2009). Ford successfully targets these products at consumers around theworld, since they have very similar desires regarding fuel economy, environmentalimpact, comfort, technology and safety. While cost reductions of this type are certainly impressive, one must also consider thechallenges involved in global new product development. While most of a car may bestandardized to take advantage of scale economies, certain adaptations will need to bemade to customize the product to the needs of the marketplace. A car may have airconditioning or automatic gear shifting as standard in the North American market, whilethese may be sold as options in Europe or Asia. Some cars will have the steering wheel onthe left side and others on the right, depending on the convention in the target country. Other small design differences may need to be made for safety or emission-controlreasons. Even if the tangible product is standardized throughout the world, its positioningmay differ across markets. Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars are sold as prestigious luxuryvehicles in the North American market, at a higher price point than in Germany, theircountry of origin, and other European countries. Honda cars are sold as youth-orientedcars in Japan and high-quality cars in North America. There are other interesting concerns as well. For example, managing a global productteam presents its own challenges: meetings will mostly be of the virtual type, there may belanguage or cultural barriers, and of course time zones can be tricky as well. But an abilityto leverage the skills and different problem-solving capabilities of the various global teammembers should outweigh these difficulties. Another consideration: should the sameproduct produced in the home market be sold in global markets, or should adaptations ortotally new products be sold globally? There is much new intriguing research on productdevelopment for the bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) market – emerging or developingmarkets that nevertheless offer much untapped potential. For example, a phonemanufacturer could take an existing phone and remove features so as to sell it at a cheaperprice point, or simply build a totally new phone that specifically addresses consumer needsin that market (Dubiel & Ernst, 2013). Nokia developed a phone charger for the Indianmarket which used bicycle power: the rider charges the phone when pedaling his or herbicycle to work (Bagla, 2011). Finally, a firm that is accustomed to engineering anddesigning a product for its home market may now seek to become a global player in itsindustry. This is happening currently with firms such as L...

Open innovation and the value of crowds: implications for the fashion industry

C. Anthony Di Benedetto 한국마케팅과학회 2014 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.5 No.1

Firms in many industries are seeking to incorporate ideas from outside parties tocomplement their own internal resources and capabilities. Suppliers, distributors, endusers, scientists, firms in unrelated industries and even competitors can be importantsources of information and ideas. Furthermore, with the computing capabilitiesavailable today, firms can scan online communities for sources of ideas and evenharness the ideas generated by a select few key users with insights into emergingmainstream customer needs. All of this additional input helps firms compete profitablyin an increasingly difficult environment. New trends include open innovation,crowdsourcing, user toolkits, mass customization and lead-user analysis. While there isemerging academic research on all of these topics, their usefulness in fashionmarketing and merchandising remains relatively unexplored. This is potentially a greatresearch opportunity, as fashion designers can obtain key ideas that boostcompetitiveness by working more closely with customers, suppliers, retailersand other parties. This article presents the state of the art in each of these trends,and concludes with a discussion of the implications for fashion marketing andmerchandising academic research and practice.

Corporate social responsibility as an emerging business model in fashion marketing

C. Anthony Di Benedetto 한국마케팅과학회 2017 Journal of Global Fashion Marketing Vol.8 No.4

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important part of many fi rms’ customer relationship management programs and can be a source of competitive advantage. Many fi rms have reaped competitive advantage by making CSR a central part of their corporate mission, rather than an afterthought, since this ensures sustained commitment to CSR. Sustainability can be an important CSR target for fi rms in the fashion industry, though the adoption of sustainability initiatives has been slower than in other industries such as food production. This article explores the reasons why fashion manufacturers and retailers have been reluctant to take action to increase the production of sustainable fashion products, and why consumers have generally been reluctant to purchase sustainable fashion products. We present an agenda for the future, which details several concrete steps for fashion manufacturers and retailers to overcome the barriers to customer adoption. The central idea is for fi rms in the fashion industry to recognize the long-term benefi ts of adopting a business model which includes CSR, and specifi cally sustainability, as an integral part of the corporate mission. We conclude with managerial implications.

Consumer innovativeness and international consumer behavior: Comments and extensions

김우양,C. Anthony Di Benedetto,James M. Hunt 한국마케팅과학회 2017 마케팅과학연구 Vol.27 No.3

This study aims to discuss consumer innovativeness, as proffered by Kim, Di Benedetto, and Hunt in the Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science and found in other work carried out by Kim et al. We first review research pertaining to the dimensionality of innovativeness in the study of the consumer decision process. We then review current trends in research regarding innovation. Finally, we make several suggestions in the interests of improving research on the concept, with a particular focus on social interaction surrounding various forms of innovation.

RESEARCH ON MARKET ORIENTATION, CHOICES OF PATENT STRATEGIES, AND THEIR OUTPUT EFFECT ON ALLIANCE FIRMS

Binbin Jiang,Honglei Liu,C. Anthony Di Benedetto,Gang Song 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

The increasing competition in recent years made more and more firms regard strategic alliance as an important alternative and solution to respond to fierce competition. As a kind of system arrangement among firms, the concept of strategic alliance was first proposed by Hopland and Nigel in the early 1980s, who defined strategic alliance as the collaboration mode in which two or more firms, aiming at joint-owned both market and resources, formed the kind of cooperation to enhance advantages, share risk or cost, and also mutual flow of production factors via different kinds of contracts or agreement. However, even before this definition, many firms have already begun their alliance strategies practices. As a cooperative form, strategic alliance, no matter its specific types, becomes one key choice for firms to acquire, maintain and enhance their market shares and positions. Shrader (2001) found that collaboration to foreign firms become key methods for newly-founded firms and small firms to enter foreign markets, which can bring these firms with suitable knowledge and market information, making these firms expand even faster with lower costs and market risks. The enhancing pace of globalization and internationalization triggered firms’ attentions to external markets, Archibugi and Iammarino (2002) found that fierce changes in internal market forced firms to expand their market and product scopes, making more and more firms realize product and R&D internationalization by searching, choosing and collaborating with foreign firms. Dong and Glaister (2006) found Chinese firms cared more about market positions, international expansion and technology exchanges, while foreign firms tended to enter to Chinese market and learn how to operate in China via strategic alliances. Although, many scholars brought out managerial practices of firms’ strategic alliances, and had already formed theoretical foundations, researches related to market orientation, especially how alliance firms establish and realize their strategic goals and performance goals under market motivation is still lack of studies. In reality, the mechanism how firms’ alliance intention transformed into their strategic or performance goals is still in the black box. Taken alliance firms as research objectives, this paper tends to explore how firms constructed strategic alliance due to market-orientation realize their strategic or performance goals via choice of patent strategies. We introduced patent strategies to establish the matching model, to analyze how firms market orientation influence choices of patent strategies, and their mutual effects on firms innovative performance, in hope to provide to the future studies and managerial practice how firms can choose the reasonable and effective alliance partners according to their own strategic and performance goals. Based on differentiation of market access and market extension motivation, we pointed out that, in order to realize the transformation from alliance motivation to innovation performance, alliance firms had to choose and determine among a set of practical and operational plans. Patent strategies, as a kind of operational plan, were conducive to transformation from alliance motivation to innovation performance. With the framework of market motivation, patent strategy and firms innovative performance, we put forward the hypotheses on how market motivation affect firms’ choices of patent strategies, and also the joint effects of market motivation and patent strategies on firm innovative performance. We selected alliance firms in IT industry as samples, with data from Cooperative Agreements and Technology Indicators Database, USPTO and R&D Scoreboard released by Department for Business, Innovation & Skills of UK, we empirically tested effects of market motivation on choices of patent strategies, and also effects of market motivation and patent strategies on firms innovative performance. Results showed that: different market positions led to differentiated motivations and patent strategies in their strategic alliances, firms with relatively weak market positions tend to pursue strategic profile of patent defensive and leveraging strategies under market access motivation, while firms with strong positions would like to implement patent proprietary and leveraging strategies in market extension motivation. The implementation of patent defensive and leveraging strategies under market access motivation enhanced innovation efficiency of the firms with weak market positions. Since these firms focused more on market positions and opportunities, their market capitalization tended to improve, but the motivation and utilization of patent strategies had no effect on patent output. Similar to these firms, the ones with stronger market position were inclined to strengthen their market opportunities and improve their market capitalization. Results indicated that because of their stronger market positions, these firms showed lower awareness of innovation efficiency and their emphasis on patent output was not high either, which then led to the fact that both market extension motivation and patent strategies used had no effects on firms innovative performance measured by innovation efficiency or patent output.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF NETWORK TIE AND BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION: IMPLICATIONS OF STRONG AND WEAK TIE POSITION

Hakil Moon,Anthony Di Benedetto,Sang Kyun Kim 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

Introduction Many extant studies in the strategic management literature show that a firm’s network influences its innovation outcomes (Ahuja, Lampert, & Tandon, 2008). Networks are characterized by strong and weak ties in terms of the combination of the amount of time, intensity, intimacy, and reciprocal services (Granovetter, 1973). There is, however, a continuing debate about the relative advantages of strong and weak ties. These equivocal findings suggest that the relationship between tie strength and a firm’s innovation outcome is complex, and call for a more detailed examination of this relationship. The implications of networks for a firm’s innovation outcomes are quite significant. Nevertheless, the majority of research studies still examine networks using simple dyadic relationships (e.g., Capaldo, 2007). In reality, a firm’s networks are composed of more than a single dyadic relationship and are much more complex. Thus, dyadic approaches are limited in providing understanding of networks on a firm’s innovation performance. As such, we will take the perspective of a focal firm in a triad network. While still relatively simple, the triad network approach allows us to identify key relationships previously unexplored in network tie configuration, and to shed light on the equivocal results in the extant literature. Specifically, we will examine the position of the strong or weak ties among the firms, and also whether the strong or weak ties are adjacent or non-adjacent to the focal firm. Breakthrough innovation is defined as the basic invention, which leads to the evolution of many subsequent technological developments (Ahuja & Lambert, 2001). This definition suggests that novel and unique knowledge is required to create breakthrough innovation. Indeed, recent research shows that firms need novel knowledge created by network partners to create breakthrough innovation (e.g., Srivastava & Gnyawali, 2011). As such, we investigate how different levels of novel and diverse knowledge arising from the position of network ties impact a focal firm’s breakthrough innovation. Nevertheless, obtaining diverse and novel knowledge from networks does not guarantee the creation of successful breakthrough innovation. A firm needs a capability to learn, absorb and integrate the new knowledge into its works, which is its absorptive capacity. Thus, we examine the moderating role of a firm’s absorptive capacity on the relationship between the impact of the configurations arising from the position of strong/weak ties and a firm’s breakthrough innovation in a triad network relationship. Conceptual Framework We posit six different types of network configurations based on tie strength and position of strong/weak ties that are adjacent or non-adjacent to the focal firm in a triad (Figure 1). For example, Configuration 1 has three strong ties and Configuration 6 has three weak ties. Configuration 2 has two strong ties that are adjacent to a focal firm and one weak tie that is non-adjacent to a focal firm in a triad. Importantly, we use two theories (i.e., network theor and relational theory) to elaborate the impact of six configurations on a firm’s breakthrough innovation, considering the tie strength, the position of strong/weak ties, and whether the strong or weak ties are adjacent or non-adjacent to the focal firm. The first of these is network theory. Network theory and relational theory assert different effects of strong versus weak ties on a firm’s breakthrough innovation. To resolve the ambiguities in the literature on this issue, we combine network theory and relational theory and investigate the implication of the position of the strong or weak ties. We argue that the position of strong/weak ties must be considered to explain the impact of tie strength on firm breakthrough innovation in a triad context. For example, Configuration 2 has two strong ties adjacent to focal firm and one weak tie non-adjacent to focal firm (Figure 1). The non-adjacent weak tie provides potential for diverse and novel knowledge and reduced knowledge redundancy. Also, adjacent two strong ties provide the benefits of commitment and trust, and rich information flow. Additionally, these adjacent strong ties facilitate the transfer of novel knowledge generated from the non-adjacent weak tie. Thus, we argue that Configuration 2 has a potentially positive influence on firm breakthrough innovation. Configuration 5 has two adjacent weak ties and one non-adjacent strong tie. The non-adjacent strong tie has high knowledge redundancy and high trust and commitment between the two actors B and C (Figure 1). The non-adjacent strong tie between B and C induces potential opportunistic tendencies toward focal firm and inhibits information sharing with the focal firm. This indicates that the two firms form an alliance to the detriment of the focal firm. Further, adjacent weak ties provide novel and diverse information while maintaining less commitment and trust with the focal firm. Importantly, diverse information from adjacent weak ties is degraded because of the knowledge redundancy generated by non-adjacent strong tie between B and C. Thus, we argue that Configuration 5 has potentially negative influence on firm breakthrough innovation. The above discussion suggests that one cannot determine which type of network ties will tend create a firm’s breakthrough innovation simply by counting the numbers of weak and strong ties in the configurations. One must also consider the position of the strong and weak ties within the network and the focal firm’s absorptive capacity. For example, though there is a high level of knowledge redundancy created by the non-adjacent strong tie in Configuration 5, if the focal firm has strong ability to learn, the focal firm can still capture and use the limited new knowledge, depending on its absorptive capacity. Next, we explain how firm’s absorptive capacity influences the relationship between six configurations and breakthrough innovation. Methods We will collect a full sample of data from three main data sources: alliance data from the Securities Data Company (SDC) on Joint and Alliances, patent data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) U.S. Patent Citation 1997-2016, and financial data from COMPUSTAT. The initial sample will consist of all firms that announced a triad of strategic alliance firms across industries from 1997 to 2016 in the United States. Implications Our study makes two key contributions. First, we investigate the impact of various triad strong/weak tie network configurations on a firm’s breakthrough innovation. We test various effects accrued from the position of strong/weak ties that are adjacent or non-adjacent to a focal firm on the focal firm’s breakthrough innovation in the triad network. By examining these relationships, we uncover critical implications of the tie strength previously unexplored in the network literature. We provide conceptual advancement of Granovetter’s notion of the strength of weak ties, showing the importance of the position of strong or weak ties as a critical driver to influence a firm’s breakthrough innovation. Second, we investigate how a focal firm’s absorptive capacity moderates the impact of network configurations on a firm’s breakthrough innovation. This provides a more precise and fine-grained understanding of how a firm’s capability to absorb outside knowledge influences the relationship between network configurations and a focal firm’s breakthrough innovation. Combined, our two contributions help to resolve some of the equivocal results in the extant literature regarding the effects of strong or weak ties on breakthrough innovation.