Title: Innovation at the project-level: the role of organisational innovation capabilities

Authors: Lars Hovdan Molden; Maryna Vakulenko; Tommy Høyvarde Clausen

Addresses: Business School, Nord University, P.O. Box 1490, 8049 Bodø, Norway ' Business School, Nord University, P.O. Box 1490, 8049 Bodø, Norway ' Business School, Nord University, P.O. Box 1490, 8049 Bodø, Norway

Abstract: Strategic management research shows that firm innovation capabilities enable innovation at the firm-level. Extending and enhancing this research, we theorise and hypothesise that firms' innovation capabilities manifest as project-level innovation capabilities and enable the creation of innovation at the project-level. Drawing on a repeated cross-section of innovation projects and regression analysis, we find that internal and external innovation capabilities have a positive influence on technological and non-technological innovation at the project-level. A key theoretical implication is that innovation capabilities enable organisations to manage the uncertainties and complexities of the innovation journey as it manifests at the project-level. This is another testimony to the importance of innovation capabilities for organisations searching for innovation.

Keywords: internal and external project innovation capabilities; internal and external search; technological innovation output; non-technological innovation output.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2025.142962

International Journal of Technology Management, 2025 Vol.97 No.1, pp.88 - 110

Accepted: 07 Nov 2023
Published online: 02 Dec 2024 *

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