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Establishing and managing a network for continuous innovation: Invoking organizational pressure
Author(s) -
Karlsson Anna,
Björk Jennie
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
creativity and innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.148
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1467-8691
pISSN - 0963-1690
DOI - 10.1111/caim.12215
Subject(s) - reciprocal , business , knowledge management , multinational corporation , autonomy , hierarchy , innovation management , organizational network analysis , new product development , network theory , product innovation , marketing , organizational learning , computer science , economics , market economy , philosophy , linguistics , statistics , mathematics , finance , political science , law
Social networks in organizations have been identified as important both in terms of increasing our understanding of innovation and for organizations to realize innovation outcomes. While previous studies have informed us of the importance of networks for innovation, we know little of how companies intentionally can design and utilize networks to achieve continuous innovation. The aim of this paper is to explore how a network for continuous innovation can be established and managed. A longitudinal case study has been performed using data covering the establishment and subsequent management of a network for supporting continuous innovation, spanning the product management and R&D department of a large multinational company. The results reveal the potential to use intra‐organizational networks to invoke organizational pressure conducive for making innovation happen. This pressure is induced by autonomy and self‐organizing in the network and consists of reciprocal expectations and demands between the top (management) and the bottom (employees involved in the network) of the organizational hierarchy. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.