Published Online:30 Dec 2015https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1023
- Cited by
- 24 December 2025 | Journal of Responsible Innovation, Vol. 13, No. 1
- 23 June 2026 | Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 33
- 15 June 2026 | Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Vol. 41
- 29 August 2025 | International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 45, No. 4
- 30 April 2026 | Information Systems Research, Vol. 0, No. 0
- 24 April 2026 | Management Science, Vol. 0, No. 0
- 15 May 2025 | Innovation, Vol. 28, No. 2
- 4 September 2025 | Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 43, No. 2
- 16 December 2024 | Journal of Management, Vol. 52, No. 3
- 25 February 2026 | Journal of Engineering Design, Vol. 78
- 18 April 2025 | Australian Journal of Management, Vol. 51, No. 1
- 22 January 2026 | Production and Operations Management, Vol. 47
- Research Policy, Vol. 55, No. 1
- Research Policy, Vol. 55, No. 1
- 27 October 2025 | Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 31, No. 8
- 15 January 2025 | Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 29, No. 11
- 9 January 2025 | Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 32, No. 12
- 11 June 2025 | Strategy Science, Vol. 10, No. 4
- 4 April 2025 | Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 14, No. 1
- 29 April 2025 | R&D Management, Vol. 55, No. 5
- 21 February 2025 | Organization Science, Vol. 36, No. 5
- 6 June 2025 | Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 42, No. 5
- 16 July 2025 | Academy of Management Review, Vol. 53
- 17 January 2025 | Organization Science, Vol. 36, No. 4
- 10 July 2025 | Systems, Vol. 13, No. 7
- Journal of Business Research, Vol. 194
- 1 May 2025 | New Writing, Vol. 22, No. 2
- 27 August 2024 | The Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol. 50, No. 2
- Research Policy, Vol. 54, No. 3
- 7 March 2025 | International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Vol. 7, No. 1
- 1 November 2024 | Organization Science, Vol. 36, No. 2
- 25 March 2025 | Science Progress, Vol. 108, No. 1
- 30 May 2024 | Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 49, No. 1
- 1 January 2025 | SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 33
- 1 January 2025 | SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 35
- 11 December 2024 | Strategic Management Review, Vol. 5, No. 3
- 6 February 2024 | Journal of Educational Change, Vol. 25, No. 4
- 12 May 2024 | Creativity and Innovation Management, Vol. 33, No. 4
- 5 April 2024 | Organization Science, Vol. 35, No. 6
- Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 123
- 3 June 2024 | Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3
- 5 August 2024 | Information Systems and e-Business Management, Vol. 22, No. 3
- Technovation, Vol. 136
- 21 August 2024 | Sustainability, Vol. 16, No. 16
- 7 August 2023 | Innovation, Vol. 26, No. 3
- 18 April 2020 | Kybernetes, Vol. 53, No. 7
- 24 October 2023 | Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 39, No. 5
- Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 39, No. 3
- 2 December 2022 | Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 61, No. 3
- 15 September 2023 | Strategy Science, Vol. 9, No. 1
- Academy of Management Discoveries, Vol. 10, No. 1
- 14 September 2023 | Organizational Psychology Review, Vol. 14, No. 1
- Japan Marketing Journal, Vol. 43, No. 3
- 21 March 2023 | Organization Science, Vol. 35, No. 1
- IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 71
- 1 January 2024 | Organizações & Sociedade, Vol. 31, No. 108
- 1 January 2024 | Organizações & Sociedade, Vol. 31, No. 108
- 1 January 2024 | SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 27
- Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Vol. 241
- 16 November 2023 | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Vol. 10, No. 1
- 12 December 2023 | European Management Review, Vol. 20, No. 4
- 6 November 2023 | Organization Science, Vol. 34, No. 6
- 18 April 2023 | Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 44, No. 11
- 6 June 2023 | R&D Management, Vol. 53, No. 5
- 10 April 2023 | Journal of Organization Design, Vol. 12, No. 3
- 26 April 2023 | Nature Reviews Bioengineering, Vol. 1, No. 9
- 17 April 2023 | Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 32, No. 7
- 3 December 2021 | Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Vol. 32, No. 5
- Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 208
- 1 July 2023 | Participatory Educational Research, Vol. 10, No. 4
- 14 June 2023 | Strategic Management Review, Vol. 4, No. 2
- Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 66, No. 3
- 1 August 2022 | Management Science, Vol. 69, No. 5
- 16 November 2021 | European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26, No. 3
- 27 February 2023 | Business & Information Systems Engineering, Vol. 65, No. 2
- International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 69
- Sustainable Technology and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 2, No. 1
- 1 August 2022 | Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 26, No. 11
- 12 October 2022 | Management Decision, Vol. 60, No. 13
- She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation, Vol. 7, No. 3
- IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, Vol. 1101, No. 5
- 17 October 2022 | International Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 26, No. 09
- Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 105
- 8 April 2020 | Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 46, No. 4
- 3 February 2022 | Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 31, No. 6
- 10 May 2022 | Business & Society, Vol. 61, No. 5
- Information & Management, Vol. 59, No. 3
- Research Policy, Vol. 51, No. 3
- 23 January 2022 | R&D Management, Vol. 52, No. 2
- 4 February 2022 | Applied Mechanics, Vol. 3, No. 1
- The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 30, No. 4
- Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 36, No. 6
- 12 August 2021 | Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 58, No. 7
- Research Policy, Vol. 50, No. 8
- Research Policy, Vol. 50, No. 8
- Research Policy, Vol. 50, No. 8
- Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 159
- 11 August 2021 | Sustainability, Vol. 13, No. 16
- 22 December 2020 | European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 30, No. 4
- 25 December 2020 | Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 42, No. 7
- Journal of Business Research, Vol. 131
- Journal of Business Venturing Design, Vol. 1, No. 1-2
- 5 November 2020 | Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 30, No. 1
- Research Policy, Vol. 50, No. 2
- International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 56
- SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 54
- Information & Management, Vol. 57, No. 8
- Computers in Industry, Vol. 122
- 16 April 2021 | Revue Française de Gestion, Vol. 46, No. 293
- 21 November 2019 | European Societies, Vol. 22, No. 4
- 15 April 2020 | Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 41, No. 8
- Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 1567, No. 2
- 19 July 2020 | European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 29, No. 3
- 24 January 2020 | Organization Science, Vol. 31, No. 3
- 2 January 2020 | Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 29, No. 3
- 1 July 2019 | Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 57, No. 2
- 10 December 2019 | Strategy Science, Vol. 4, No. 4
- 21 April 2019 | Industrial and Corporate Change, Vol. 28, No. 6
- 26 October 2019 | Journal of Educational Technology Systems, Vol. 48, No. 2
- Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 11, No. 6
- Research Policy, Vol. 48, No. 8
- 5 February 2019 | British Journal of Management, Vol. 30, No. 4
- The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Vol. 28, No. 3
- 3 June 2018 | European Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 2
- 8 June 2018 | European Management Review, Vol. 16, No. 2
- Academy of Management Discoveries, Vol. 4, No. 4
- IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 65, No. 4
- Research Policy, Vol. 47, No. 8
- 7 February 2018 | Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Vol. 30, No. 9
- Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 128
- SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 40
- Academy of Management Annals, Vol. 12, No. 1
- Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 120
- 22 March 2017 | Organization Science, Vol. 28, No. 2
- 1 March 2017 | MIS Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 1
- Problem Solving Without Problem Formulation: Documenting Need-Solution Pairs in a Laboratory SettingSSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 44
- SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 17
- SSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 27
- 13 September 2016 | Information Systems Research, Vol. 27, No. 4
- 1 December 2016 | Information Systems Research, Vol. 27, No. 4
- 2 September 2016 | Service Science, Vol. 8, No. 3
- Coordinating Knowledge Creation in Multidisciplinary Teams: Evidence from Early-Stage Drug DiscoveryAcademy of Management Journal, Vol. 59, No. 4
- Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Vol. 5
- 30 December 2015 | Organization Science, Vol. 27, No. 1
- Procedia Computer Science, Vol. 99
- Procedia Computer Science, Vol. 99

Volume 27, Issue 1
January-February 2016
Pages 1-231
Article Information
Metrics
Information
- Published Online:December 30, 2015
Copyright © 2016, INFORMS
Cite as
Eric von Hippel, Georg von Krogh (2016) CROSSROADS—Identifying Viable “Need–Solution Pairs”: Problem Solving Without Problem Formulation. Organization Science 27(1):207-221.
https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1023
Keywords
The authors thank professors Zur Shapira and Paul Adler, and three reviewers at Organization Science for excellent comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. The authors are also very grateful to Burcu Kucukkeles, Oliver Alexy, Nikolaus Franke, Jochen Runde, and Neil Thompson, as well as participants in research seminars at Warwick Business School and Universidad Carlos III Madrid, for very valuable comments. The authors also thank Jessie von Hippel for her very valuable editorial work.
