TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploratory and exploitative capability paths for innovation
T2 - A contingency framework for harnessing fuzziness in the front end
AU - Gama, Fábio
AU - Sjödin, David
AU - Parida, Vinit
AU - Frishammar, Johan
AU - Wincent, Joakim
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support for this research project from CAPES, VINNOVA, and the Ragnar S?derberg Foundation is acknowledged. We wish to thank the participants at the 5th World Conference on Production and Operations Management in Havana, Cuba, in 2016 for their comments on earlier drafts. We are indebted to Jennie Bj?rk from KTH Royal Institute of Technology for her valuable comments on a prior draft.
Funding Information:
Financial support for this research project from CAPES, VINNOVA, and the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation is acknowledged. We wish to thank the participants at the 5th World Conference on Production and Operations Management in Havana, Cuba, in 2016 for their comments on earlier drafts. We are indebted to Jennie Björk from KTH Royal Institute of Technology for her valuable comments on a prior draft.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/12/3
Y1 - 2021/12/3
N2 - Based on the results of a multiple case study of seven manufacturing firms, a contingency framework for harnessing fuzziness in the front end of innovation is proposed by delineating two discrete capability paths through which new product ideas are developed into corroborated product definitions. The study illustrates that ideas characterized by high levels of fuzziness benefit from following an exploratory path, where the creative potential of fuzziness is embraced by deploying problem-formulation and problem-solving capabilities. In contrast, ideas at low levels of fuzziness benefit from following an exploitative path, where fuzziness is tolerated by drawing upon idea-refinement and process-management capabilities. When the fuzziness level of the idea and the set of capabilities to develop the idea are poorly aligned, the idea-development process is either inefficient or runs the risk of stalling. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for the front end of innovation and new product idea development.
AB - Based on the results of a multiple case study of seven manufacturing firms, a contingency framework for harnessing fuzziness in the front end of innovation is proposed by delineating two discrete capability paths through which new product ideas are developed into corroborated product definitions. The study illustrates that ideas characterized by high levels of fuzziness benefit from following an exploratory path, where the creative potential of fuzziness is embraced by deploying problem-formulation and problem-solving capabilities. In contrast, ideas at low levels of fuzziness benefit from following an exploitative path, where fuzziness is tolerated by drawing upon idea-refinement and process-management capabilities. When the fuzziness level of the idea and the set of capabilities to develop the idea are poorly aligned, the idea-development process is either inefficient or runs the risk of stalling. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for the front end of innovation and new product idea development.
KW - 512 Business and Management
KW - capabilities
KW - complexity
KW - equivocality
KW - exploitation
KW - exploration
KW - front end of innovation
KW - ideation
KW - new product development
KW - uncertainty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85120744517&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/d727e6aa-1a27-347e-90c7-3fd463c02fa5/
U2 - 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102416
DO - 10.1016/j.technovation.2021.102416
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85120744517
SP - 102416
JO - Technovation : The International Journal of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
JF - Technovation : The International Journal of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
SN - 0166-4972
M1 - 102416
ER -
