Socio-Cognitive Model of Innovation

Abstract

According to this article, as regards the research about innovation in business, case studies require an explicit model of how people think and act within the firm. The socio-cognitive model here described combines Weickís social and psicological ideas with the characterization of the business firm Teece makes starting from its technological basis. A cognitive model, it is argued, fits the tacit nature of technical knowledge. A distinction is drawn between use technology (a market requirement) and production technology (controlled by the firm). This distinction is seen as the basis for defining innovation as the creation of a "cognitive package" formed by cognitive elements taken from the technical basis of the firm as well as from the ideas of the market. The article focuses, then, on how the decisions taken within the firm can lead to models appearing at macro level. The higher standard of living and the modérate nature of long waves of economic development prove to be in- keeping with the socio-cognitive model of innovation.