Negotiating Innovation

In this paper, it is argued that innovation can be the result of a repetitive, multi-actor negotiation process. We present the case of an environment-related product innovation in a large multinational company which emerged as the outcome of a complex interaction process in which numerous external and internal actors negotiated to safeguard their own interests. This negotiation perspective challenges conventional economic views of innovations, in which new products and processes are regarded as exogenous variables, the outcomes of deliberately planned research, or the combination of technology (pushing) and market (pulling) inducements. Instead, innovation may be a non-linear, unpredictable process which involves multiple actors with divergent interests and which leads to outcomes that are collectively acceptable but not necessarily (sub)optimal

Using Networks For Changing Innovation Strategy: The Case of IBM

Large-scale strategic change projects in companies may be supported by using alliance networks. This paper shows that IBM’s change from an exploitation strategy towards an exploration strategy required a radically different network strategy as well. By entering into more non-equity alliances, involving new partners in the network and loosening the ties with existing partners, IBM supported its transformation from a hardware manufacturing company to a global service provider and software company

Managing Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A Multiple-Case Study

Existing studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success-factors. This study validates and extends an existing exploratory framework, which comprises both long-term strategic processes and short-term operational processe