Boxing-In and Box-Breaking of Attention: a Process Model of Innovation Measurement

Abstract

In this paper, we present a process model on how the measurement of innovation performance within firm shapes the attention of organizational members. Most firms measure innovation performance on a regular basis. Yet, this practice is double-edged. On the one hand, innovation measurement may help audit innovation performance thus enabling the improvement of innovative activities. On the other, measurement may hinder creativity and make managers focus their attention too narrowly. Addressing this dilemma, existing studies has taken a strong normative stance, providing lists of best- practice metrics. At the same times, these lists are often overlapping and the advice given sometimes contradictive and we lack an over-all theoretical framework to understand how the measurement of innovation performance within firms influences behavior. Drawing on attention-based theory, we propose that innovation metrics have a boxing-in effect on attention by allowing organizational members to sort issues and prioritize ans...