Corporate Renewal through Internal Innovation: The Four ‘R’s of Bricolage in Large Firms

Abstract

I explain the elements of bricolage — creating solutions with what is at hand — as they apply to innovation in large firms. First, managers can enumerate existing resources through architectural and historical analysis to uncover valuable assets. Second, managers can encourage employees to alter their routines by changing how people interact across internal boundaries; either promoting boundary-spanners, restructuring, or destructuring. Third, managers can recognize new market opportunities by asking employees, customers, and others already in the firm’s network to engage in analogical thinking or interact with existing artifacts, such as products. Fourth, to enable the ideas generated through any of the first three steps to come to fruition, managers can relax mechanisms for selection by choosing more organic, decentralized structures. The bricolage approach is recommended when alternative means of innovation would take too much time or money. The framework has implications for corporate strategy and structure.