Stoyan V. Sgourev, ESSEC Business School Paris
Stoyan V. Sgourev is Professor of Management at ESSEC Business School Paris. He received his PhD in Sociology from Stanford University. His research is focused on innovation, specifically in art, ballet and opera. He also pursues historical subjects, such as early modern Dutch trade or banking in Italy. His latest project is on the rise of Modern art (1905-1915), tracing careers of artists and the evolution of collaborative networks.
Where does radical innovation originate from - the center or the?periphery?
In this talk at HCU, Stoyan V. Sgourev proposes a process interface, where ideas from the?core are radicalized on the periphery,?thereby realigning the primacy of the?core in diffusing ideas and that of the periphery in forging distinctiveness.?Quantitative and qualitative evidence from the history of art lend?support to?the arguments, including breakthrough paintings, such as?The Scream?by Munch and the?Black?Square?by Malevitch. Peripheral locations deepen faultlines and reinforce?contradictions in personal identities, making the pursuit of compromise less feasible?or less likely. Radicalization is facilitated by conditions of simultaneously?increasing?differences?and?exchanges?between the core and the periphery. This framework helps explain sudden shifts?in the epicenter of innovation, when experiments escalate on their way?out of?central locations.
