Innovation management capabilities for start-ups and spin-offs : A literature review

• A firm’s ability to innovate is critical to retaining its competitiveness and even survival: in the long run it is the capability to generate a stream of product and process changes that matters. Consequently to secure their position into the future, firms need to be able to develop, maintain and renew their Innovation Management Capability (IMC). In order to improve their firm’s IMC, managers need to know which ‘levers’ to pull. An extensive and diverse body of literature exists that has sought to identify these important factors, and several attempts at synthesis have been made which imply that organisations successfully able to innovate exhibit a number of generic characteristics. The contingency perspective presents a challenge to these views and raises questions about their universal applicability, whether or not different contexts demand different IMCs and to what extent there is variation in generic factors across different contexts. This paper presents a literature review on innovation management capability in relation to firms that are at the early stages of development, whether they are starting out or spinning-off from other organisations. Start-ups and spin-outs (SUSOs) constitute important motors for industrial change, and their IMCs are therefore important considerations. The aim of this review is to assess the pertinence of the IMC construct for organisations in the early stages of their development and uncover any contextual contingencies. The paper indicates that SUSOs are heavily reliant on their linkages, networks and connectivity. This would seem intuitive as at the outset a firm can benefit from having mentors, partners and networks. In the open innovation paradigm, where connectivity and links are essential, this is reinforced. The paper also indicates that the IMC is described somewhat differently for SUSOs than in the general literature, a finding that emphasises how firm newness impacts IMC.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Innovation; Management; Capabilities

Företagsekonomi

Business Studies

Business administration

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)