Do you see what I see? How expertise and a decision-maker role influence the recognition and selection of novel ideas

TY - JOUR

T1 - Do you see what I see? How expertise and a decision-maker role influence the recognition and selection of novel ideas

AU - Beretta, Michela

AU - Deichmann, Dirk

AU - Frederiksen, Lars

AU - Stam, Daan

PY - 2025/1

Y1 - 2025/1

N2 - While organizations often assume that expertise helps assessors in evaluating novel ideas, the empirical evidence for this proposition is inconsistent. We suggest that this is because prior studies do not tease out the effect of expertise from that of taking a decision-maker role. Organizations rely on experts to evaluate ideas but not every expert is also a decision-maker. Therefore, understanding whether and when experts are best positioned to evaluate novel ideas is important. We conducted two studies to address this issue. In Study 1, we experimentally examined how different individuals recognize novel ideas and whether or not they select them. We find that while expertise fosters the recognition and selection of novel ideas, being in a decision-maker role hinders it. Moreover, the effects of expertise on idea selection decrease for those in a decision-maker role. To extend the generalizability of our findings, we conducted Study 2—a field study employing data collected from an international firm's ideation platform over the course of 11 months. We find support for the contrasting effects of expertise and decision-maker role on the selection of novel ideas. Our findings suggest how idea evaluation processes in, for instance, open innovation or crowdsourcing contexts can be organized more effectively.

AB - While organizations often assume that expertise helps assessors in evaluating novel ideas, the empirical evidence for this proposition is inconsistent. We suggest that this is because prior studies do not tease out the effect of expertise from that of taking a decision-maker role. Organizations rely on experts to evaluate ideas but not every expert is also a decision-maker. Therefore, understanding whether and when experts are best positioned to evaluate novel ideas is important. We conducted two studies to address this issue. In Study 1, we experimentally examined how different individuals recognize novel ideas and whether or not they select them. We find that while expertise fosters the recognition and selection of novel ideas, being in a decision-maker role hinders it. Moreover, the effects of expertise on idea selection decrease for those in a decision-maker role. To extend the generalizability of our findings, we conducted Study 2—a field study employing data collected from an international firm's ideation platform over the course of 11 months. We find support for the contrasting effects of expertise and decision-maker role on the selection of novel ideas. Our findings suggest how idea evaluation processes in, for instance, open innovation or crowdsourcing contexts can be organized more effectively.

KW - Creativity

KW - Decision-maker role

KW - Expertise

KW - Idea evaluation

KW - Idea selection

KW - Novelty

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85206895743&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.respol.2024.105139

DO - 10.1016/j.respol.2024.105139

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0048-7333

VL - 54

JO - Research Policy

JF - Research Policy

IS - 1

M1 - 105139

ER -