The Innovative Company An Ill-defined Object

The concept of innovation is the result of human activities carried out to produce a new product, service or something new that creates value. More recently, the idea of an innovative enterprise, organization or company has emerged, thanks to an increasing interest in innovation as an essential process in a variety of economic, technological and sociological contexts.

This book is part of a set on Innovation between Risk and Reward and focuses on the close relationship between innovation and knowledge. It provides the reader with the outline of an innovative company, focusing on the organizational aspects that contribute to defining it and sketching out the profile of what an innovative company is or should be in the age of knowledge.

The authors explore the literary corpus in order to outline the state of the art but also the reality of innovative enterprise in the form of meetings and interviews with both large and small companies.

Foreword vii

Acknowledgements xv

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 Evolution of the Concept of Innovation 1

1.1 Major steps in the evolution of the concept of innovation 2

1.2 Paradigm shift 6

Chapter 2 Innovation: A Knowledge-based Phenomenon 11

2.1 A knowledge-based view of firm innovation 12

2.2 Knowledge management 13

Chapter 3 Pivots of Innovation in the Age of Knowledge 21

3.1 Creativity 21

3.2 Organizational ambidexterity 37

Chapter 4 The Various Approaches to Innovation Adopted by Companies 53

4.1 External approaches 53

4.1.1 Alliances, subcontracting and other interindustry contractual forms 54

4.1.2 Open innovation in various forms 55

4.2 Internal and organizational approaches 57

4.2.1 Participative innovation 57

4.2.2 Communities of practice and/or innovation 64

4.2.3 Intrapreneurship, adhocracy and forms of organizational entrepreneurship 67

4.2.4 Company social networks 73

4.2.5 Other creative and agile processes 76

Chapter 5 Organizational Levers 83

5.1 An innovation-oriented strategic posture 83

5.2 A culture of innovation 90

5.3 Innovation management 96

5.4 The innovative company, a concept that applies to small or large companies? 104

Conclusion 111

Bibliography 119

Index 137

Stefano Borzillo, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, HES-SO; University of Applied Sciences Western, Switzerland.