Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Innovation refers to the processes of replacing past lifestyles, products, services, knowledge, and forms of managing by a variation which is different. The difference ranges from small and incremental to radical and discontinuous. Typically, innovations have been equated with entities and artifacts which can be readily seen and touched. These innovations, however, are embodiments of vast investments in forms of knowledge and ways of organizing ( Clark 2003 ). The role of management in the innovation process and of how the organization of management affects the pace and directions of innovation remained largely unexplored until about 50 years ago. Forms of managing and organizing are innovations which are so taken for granted that their significance might be overlooked. Organizations, especially large-scale corporations, are the pivotal arena within which invention and innovation are orchestrated. The earlier focus upon artifacts has shifted to the examination of the roles that management do and can play in orchestrating innovation. The analysis of management innovation is noted for its bold attempts at synthesis and for increasing critiques of the pro-innovation bias ( Clark 2003 ). Consequently, the reader is assailed by seductive narratives of how all managers can orchestrate innovations. However, published data routinely list failures in the public and private sectors. Equally, ... log in or subscribe to read full text