Drawing insights from patents using network science and text analysis: the case of telecom
Abstract
**Please note that the full text is embargoed until 08/01/2025** Firms in knowledge-intensive industries, such as telecom, must be habitual innovators, continually exploiting their existing stock of knowledge and exploring breakthrough ideas to produce products and services that set them apart from their rivals. We contend that patents, which reflect exploitative and explorative ideas that organizations pursue, can be expeditiously analyzed to assess the relative competencies and shortcomings of firms. The first essay uses a combination of advanced text analysis and network science to elucidate the 5G (Fifth Generation) domain in terms of its competitive landscape, communities, influential sources of knowledge, and patterns of evolution. Furthermore, it compares two long-standing rivals – Ericsson and Nokia - in the telecom industry to illustrate how organizations can quickly assess their relative strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis their competitors and formulate a differentiated strategy. The second essay deepens our understanding of optimal distinctiveness by investigating its relationship with the prestige of an organization in terms of its influence as a source of knowledge. The third essay expressly addresses the question of whether the emergence of 5G and 6G constitutes a paradigm shift in the telecom industry. Specifically, we rely on text analysis and social network analysis to offer insight into how firms that once dominated the telecom industry have performed – in terms of patenting - as they transitioned from 3G and 4G to 5G and 6G.