INNOVATION MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES: FROM FADS TO FUNDAMENTALS

Abstract

Innovation management is inherently inter-disciplinary, but it is much more than simply applying business and management disciplines to innovation, and over time the field has developed a distinct body of knowledge. However, in this paper, we argue that the field of innovation management has failed to fully benefit from the proliferation of relevant research because much of this work has not been sufficiently coherent and cumulative. One reason for this, we propose, is the propensity to follow and fit research and publications into contemporary fads rather than to ground work in more fundamental themes and challenges. We present two examples of such fads, open innovation and business model innovation, to illustrate the trend. Finally, we suggest some more fundamental integrating themes and management challenges, drawing upon the latest edition of Managing Innovation (Tidd, J and J Bessant (2018). Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change, Sixth Edition. New York: Wiley).1