Organizing the Firm for Innovation: A Bridge Between Innovation Strategy and Implementation

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Innovation is an important source of growth for firms, whether it entails the development of new products that require hiring more employees or the introduction of new services that allow for expansion into different markets. A key challenge facing firms, and the goal of this research, is to better understand how organization choices are related to the likelihood of project success. These choices include, for example, whether project managers are provided specific versus general goals, the assignment of projects to existing vs new organizational units, the degree of autonomy granted to project managers, and whether all the resources needed for project execution are allocated initially or over time as milestones are met. Research on the impact of these choices will assist in guiding strategic decisions as well as management practice related to project implementation. Policy makers and program administrators involved in the funding of science and technology will gain insight into how firms effectively organize for innovation.The research is conducted with leading firms across a range of different industries. Each of the participating organizations has selected projects for the study that are succeeding as well as failing in order to ensure variation in project outcomes. The research includes the development of a survey instrument that will be administered to over 100 projects across the participating firms. Statistical analyses will examine the relationships between organizational choices and innovation project outcomes. The unique empirical setting, when combined with multiple methods of data collection, will make a significant contribution to academic scholarship, industry practice, and innovation policy.