Strategic Management and Corporate Governance (SIMA)

Beyond the R&D Unit. An Exploratory Study of Corporate Innovation Initiatives in Large Established Organizations

Cristina Marullo, Isabel Estrada Vaquero, Alberto Di Minin

 

In this study we explore the portfolio of innovation activities used by large companies in the context of their innovation strategies. The objective is to enhance current knowledge on how large established enterprises are enacting exploration opportunities of a more radical nature through a more encompassing approach going beyond their R&D units. Our research question can be summarized as follows: how can large organizations also be innovative organizations?

While there is consensus that large firms benefit from engaging in exploitation as well as exploration (March, 1991), organizing both activities within one and the same firm remains cumbersome. These phenomena have been referred to as the “innovator’s dilemma” (Christensen, 1997), the “success syndrome” (Tushman & O’Reilly 1996), or the “incumbent’s curse” (Chandy & Tellis 2000).

#corporate innovation strategies #exploitation #exploration #incumbents