Title: Organisational approaches to building a radical innovation dynamic capability

Authors: Gina Colarelli O'Connor, Albert S. Paulson, Richard DeMartino

Addresses: Lally School of Management and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York 12180-3590, USA. ' Lally School of Management and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York 12180-3590, USA. ' Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Business, 108 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, New York 14623-5608, USA

Abstract: While the literature is increasingly recognising the importance of radical innovation for firms and for markets, our academic understanding of the phenomenon is not complete. We are challenged that firms are moving quickly to improve their management of radical innovation activities. The study reported on in this paper is a longitudinal study conducted over a period of 3.5 years time horizon, in which twelve US large established companies| radical innovation-capability-building initiatives were followed. This qualitative study contributes to our understanding of dynamic capabilities development in situations, where the capability itself is antithetical to the mainstream culture and processes. We provide observations regarding organisations| approaches to building a radical innovation dynamic capability over a lengthy observation period.

Keywords: dynamic capabilities; networks; radical innovation; organisational approaches; sustainable innovation processes.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2008.020704

International Journal of Technology Management, 2008 Vol.44 No.1/2, pp.179 - 204

Published online: 12 Oct 2008 *

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