Title: Incubation manager roles in the co-innovation context

Authors: Päivi Eriksson; Tero Montonen; Juha Vilhunen; Kalevi Voutilainen

Addresses: Business School, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland ' Business School, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland ' Kuopio Innovation Ltd., P.O. Box 4000, FI-70601 Kuopio, Finland ' Kuopio Innovation Ltd., P.O. Box 4000, FI-70601 Kuopio, Finland

Abstract: The paper focuses on incubation managers' work in the context of collaborative innovation (co-innovation). While incubation managers are a key human resource in incubation processes, including co-innovation projects, there is a lack of research on their work roles. This paper contributed to this gap by drawing from the business and organisation development literatures and analysing the roles incubation managers' play in real-life practice. Our empirical study shows that while incubation managers' have many roles, their integration is a key issue. In our case study, incubation managers needed to work as business consultants and coaches simultaneously, seamlessly integrating key activities attached to both roles. Therefore, our study confirms the relevance of investigating how a multiplicity of roles are fused together rather than kept separated.

Keywords: co-innovation; collaborative innovation; incubation process; incubation managers; business consultants; coaches; diagnostic; dialogic; managerial roles; case study; integration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2016.080007

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2016 Vol.20 No.5/6, pp.285 - 299

Received: 12 Mar 2016
Accepted: 27 Mar 2016
Published online: 27 Oct 2016 *

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