Title: Front end innovation and stakeholder involvement in machine tools sector

Authors: Daniel Pittino, Francesca Visintin, Cristiana Compagno

Addresses: Department of Economics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini 30/a, 33100 Udine, Italy. ' Department of Economics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini 30/a, 33100 Udine, Italy. ' Department of Economics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini 30/a, 33100 Udine, Italy

Abstract: Are there differences among companies operating pursuing different types of innovation in the organisational settings and in the combination of internal and external competencies employed to innovate? In this paper we try to answer this question focusing on the front end phase of innovation because, although the early stages are well recognised as vital for the subsequent success of the entire innovative process, research on these topic is still very limited. Our argument is that, since incremental and radical innovation leverage on different knowledge sources, the organisational approach adopted in the front end to realise the full potential of open innovation will be also different. In particular, we concentrate on front end activities that lead to radical/discontinuous and incremental innovations and analyse the different organisational and network arrangements implemented by companies operating in the machine tools industry. We decided to analyse this particular setting because in recent years the sectoral system of innovation in machine tools has experienced important transformations that have led to significant changes in firms| organisation and technological performance.

Keywords: front end innovation; stakeholders; machine tools; incremental innovation; discontinuous innovation; open innovation; machine tool industry; discontinuous innovation; radical innovation; incremental innovation; organisational change; technological performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2011.040824

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2011 Vol.14 No.1, pp.96 - 112

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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