The survival of the gatekeeper

Abstract Little is heard these days of gatekeepers — those who take it upon themselves to find and acquire information outside their own organisations. They appear to be still alive and well. This paper is based on a survey of 125 UK managers with an interest in information on new materials. It examines their information gathering and distribution, distinguishing their behaviour from that of most other employees, and from that of key employees, both of whom also bring in information. By relating the gatekeeper's behaviour to the nature of information, it is possible to understand something of the role he plays in innovation, and something of the difficulty organisations experience accommodating such behaviour.

[1]  S. Macdonald.  The distinctive research of the individual inventor , 1986 .

[2]  Michael L. Tushman,et al.  Technical Communication in R & D Laboratories: The Impact of Project Work Characteristics , 1978 .

[3]  E. Hippel.  Cooperation between Rivals: Informal Know-How Trading , 1987 .

[4]  Olle Persson.  Critical comments on the gatekeeper concept in science and technology , 1981 .

[5]  Donald G. Marquis,et al.  Successful industrial innovations : a study of factors underlying innovation in selected firms , 1969 .

[6]  C. Carter,et al.  Industry and technical progress , 1957 .

[7]  John A. Czepiel.  Word-of-Mouth Processes in the Diffusion of a Major Technological Innovation , 1974 .

[8]  Robert C. Daley,et al.  The Role of Team and Task Characteristics in R&D Team Collaborative Problem Solving and Productivity , 1978 .

[9]  George P. Huber.  A Comparison of Information Acquisition by Researchers. , 1983 .

[10]  The Sources of Invention. , 1958 .

[11]  A. Meyer.  The Flow of Technological Innovation in an R&D Department , 1985 .

[12]  Gerald G. Udell,et al.  Technology transfer: Encouraging the noncorporate inventor , 1977 .

[13]  F. R. Jevons,et al.  Wealth from Knowledge , 1972 .

[14]  Roy Rothwell,et al.  SAPPHO updated - project SAPPHO phase II , 1993 .

[15]  J. E. Ettlie.  The timing and sources of information for the adoption and implementation of production innovations , 1976, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[16]  Peter Davis,et al.  Scientific and technical information transfer for high technology: keeping the figure in its ground , 1988 .

[17]  Managers and the distribution of Scientific and Technical Information , 1984 .

[18]  Michael Gibbons,et al.  The roles of science in technological innovation , 1993 .

[19]  R. L. Taylor,et al.  The impact of organizational change on the technological gatekeeper role , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[20]  R. Rickson,et al.  Knowledge Management in Industrial Society and Environmental Quality , 1976 .

[21]  K. Arrow.  The limits of organization , 1974 .

[22]  Myers,et al.  Information Systems in Research and Development : The Technological Gatekeeper Reconsidered : R&D Management , 1983 .

[23]  A. Pettigrew.  Information Control as a Power Resource , 1972 .

[24]  Roy Rothwell,et al.  The role of communications in technological innovation , 1973 .

[25]  Denis M. S. Lee,et al.  Technology Transfer as a Function of Position in the Spectrum from Research Through Development to Technical Services , 1979 .

[26]  R. Rothwell.  Innovation and Firm Size: A Case for Dynamic Complementarity; or, is Small Really so Beautiful? , 1983 .

[27]  Stuart Macdonald.  HIGH TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND THE SILICON VALLEY MODEL: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE , 1983 .