Novelty: Searching for, Seeing, and Sustaining it

Abstract

The journey of novelty – from the moment it arises to the time it takes hold – is as fascinating as it is problematic. A new entity, to be recognized as such, needs to be differentiated from what existed before. However, novelty poses cognitive challenges that hamper its appreciation since it is difficult to form expectations about and make sense of something genuinely new. And since novel ideas, products, technologies, or organizational forms often violate existing practices and social structures, they are usually met with skepticism and resistance. In this introductory piece, we take stock of research into the challenges of generating, recognizing, and legitimating novelty. We review each paper in this volume and highlight the new perspectives and insights they offer about how individuals, teams, and organizations search for novelty, see novelty, and sustain novelty. Finally, we outline several research themes that, we believe, are worthy of further scholarly attention.

Citation

Cattani, G., Deichmann, D. and Ferriani, S. (2022), "Novelty: Searching for, Seeing, and Sustaining it", Cattani, G., Deichmann, D. and Ferriani, S. (Ed.) The Generation, Recognition and Legitimation of Novelty (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 77), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 3-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20220000077002