Title: Assessing firm capabilities for innovation

Authors: Joakim Björkdahl; Sofia Börjesson

Addresses: Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden ' Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Vera Sandbergs Allé 8, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden

Abstract: The capability to innovate has been described as key to firms remaining competitive. Scholars and managers have tried to understand how firms renew themselves in response to changes in the environment or the strategic need to be innovative. Drawing on the literature on organisational capabilities and experience gained from working with and assessing firms' capabilities for innovation, this paper presents a firm relevant framework for capabilities for innovation in large firms and the subsequent tool for assessing these capabilities. It contributes to the growing stream of literature on the capabilities for innovation by explaining and operationalising some key dimensions of the capabilities for innovation and by providing a tool that is actionable, i.e., easily translated into action.

Keywords: actionability; firm assessment; innovation capabilities; firm capabilities; organisational capabilities; large firms; assessment tools; knowledge management; KM; organisational learning; strategic learning; absorptive capacity.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMS.2012.051970

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 2012 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.171 - 184

Published online: 04 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article