Enhancing Innovation through Virtual Proximity

Abstract

Historically, innovation strategists have focused on leveraging local resources and the de- velopment of local clusters, which have relied heavily on personal contact. It was assumed that serendipity would occur through casual contact and that this contact would result in rapid sharing of ideas. Many studies have supported this concept; however, the pace of in- novation has changed and the most successful organizations promote not only physical proximity but also virtual proximity to resources. Virtual proximity refers to the level of emotional closeness between individuals, as developed through the use of information and communications technologies. This article argues that organizations can and should look to develop local virtual relationships supported by physical proximity: the mix of both vir- tual proximity and physical proximity can increase an organization's innovation capability. Introduction