Recombination in Times of Pervasive Digitalization: A Review.

Recombination is central to innovation. Stated in simple terms, recombination is the idea that new things are created by combining existing things in new ways. Over time, the application of recombination to different contexts and the influence of pervasive digitalization led to increasingly specialized conceptualizations of recombination. This review takes stock of current research by reviewing 90 articles across 49 different outlets and four leading IS conferences. Building upon the findings, this review makes three key contributions by: (1) Organizing existing knowledge on recombination by inductively developing a typology of four different types of recombination, (2) Addressing the missing focus on digital technology with four propositions that theorize how pervasive digitalization affects recombination, (3) Highlighting new directions for future research by developing specific research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]