Innovation Management Overview

Principles

Definition

Innovation management is a research field and methodological approach concerned with the systematic direction and coordination of activities related to the generation, development, and implementation of novel ideas, products, processes, or services within organizations. It investigates strategies for fostering creativity, integrating knowledge, managing uncertainty, and aligning innovation efforts with strategic objectives to achieve sustainable competitive advantage and adaptation in dynamic environments.

Ontological type

Core Frameworks

Organizational Processes

Strategic Alignment

Key developments

Key Figures

Organizational Knowledge Processes era

Bruce Kogut [1] was a leading figure in organizational knowledge during this era, with affiliations at the University of Pennsylvania [3] and the Stockholm School of Economics [4]. His contribution centers on knowledge of the firm and combinative capabilities that underlie replication of technology, as shown in the paper Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology [7], a result that clarified how internal knowledge flows enable diffusion and organizational momentum. Danny Miller [2] was active at McGill University [5] and the University of Alberta [6] in this period. His 1982 paper Innovation in conservative and entrepreneurial firms: Two models of strategic momentum [8] outlined two archetypal pathways for strategic momentum and showed how routinized processes and knowledge transfer shape organizational innovation in different firm archetypes.

Strategic Knowledge Ambidexterity era

Ammon Salter [1] is associated with Imperial College London [3] and the University of Sussex [4] in the Strategic Knowledge Ambidexterity era (1995–2008). His paper Open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining innovation performance among U.K. manufacturing firms [7] explored how openness and networked collaborations shape innovation performance, underscoring the era's emphasis on external knowledge recombination for strategic flexibility. Keld Laursen [2] is associated with Aalborg University [5] and Copenhagen Business School [6] during this era. Laursen's contributions center on openness and external collaborations as articulated in Open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining innovation performance among U.K. manufacturing firms [7], illustrating how networked collaborations and external knowledge inflows drive licensing arrangements, socialization routines, and capability accumulation.

Ecosystem AI-Driven Innovation era

Kalle Lyytinen[1], affiliated with Umeå University[3] and Case Western Reserve University[4], has been a leading voice in ecosystem AI-driven innovation during this era. His contributions are embodied in <b>Research Commentary</b>—The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[7], where he argues for a new organizing logic for digital innovation centered on platforms, modular architectures, and cross-firm knowledge flows that enable rapid recombination and AI-enabled creativity. Ola Henfridsson[2], affiliated with University of Gothenburg[5] and University of Virginia[6], has likewise shaped discussions of AI-enabled innovation in this era. In the same paper, his contributions emphasize platform-enabled architectures and absorptive-capacity routines that mobilize data, models, and human expertise across ecosystems, underscoring governance and open-innovation practices as essential to AI-driven innovation in this era <b>Research Commentary</b>—The New Organizing Logic of Digital Innovation: An Agenda for Information Systems Research[7].