Title: Radical circles: the contribution of small groups of individuals challenging the dominant visions and transforming entire industries

Authors: Claudio Dell'Era; Naiara Altuna; Paolo Landoni; Roberto Verganti

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, Italy ' Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, Torino 24-10129, Italy ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci, 32-20133 Milano, Italy

Abstract: The rising cost of R&D activities and the increasing complexity of technologies and markets have led to the widespread diffusion of collaborative and open innovation processes. As a consequence, different open innovation paradigms have become the protagonists of many innovation strategies. Although this type of approach is an optimal strategy to identify solutions to specific problems and introduce functional innovations (Verganti, 2017), it is less useful when a company wants to develop new visions. This study shows that radical circles, i.e., small groups of radical individuals, can support the development of new visions. This work is based on the examination of two radical circles that created two significant cultural movements: Memphis and Slow Food. Radical circles have particular characteristics, such as a yearning for rebellion, voluntary and closed participation, and peer criticism. We discuss the implications for companies seeking to introduce new visions.

Keywords: radical circle; vision; innovation of meaning.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTIP.2018.096102

International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 2018 Vol.12 No.2, pp.152 - 172

Accepted: 28 Mar 2018
Published online: 12 Nov 2018 *

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