Title: Incremental innovation: a way to handle friction?

Authors: Nina Veflen Olsen

Addresses: Nofima Mat, Osloveien 1, 1430 As, Norway

Abstract: In this paper, friction is used as a tool to shed light on the manager|s role in organisational change. The concept of friction has recently been used as a metaphor to understand organisational action, and previous articles have highlighted how friction between organisational resources both restricts and facilitate change. Change and friction are interrelated, and the focal point to explore in this paper is the manager|s role in this interaction. The question emphasised is, ||How do managers handle friction when developing incremental innovations?|| Empirical observations of incremental changes in a simple saithe block product illustrate our theoretical discussion.

Keywords: incremental innovation; friction; organisational change; resources; IMP; Norway; change management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIRD.2011.038923

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2011 Vol.3 No.2, pp.174 - 185

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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