Innovation Management — Is There Still a Role for "Bootlegging"?

Abstract

It has been suggested that "bootlegging" can lead to a special type of bottom-up innovation. Some recent research indicates that bootlegging is being carried out in over 75 per cent of laboratories in technology-based firms. It should therefore have a significant impact on innovation. However, it might be assumed that, by its very nature, it cannot be managed and hence the potential more effectively realised. By definition, it is an activity which does not fit within the normal programmed activity and, in some cases, is actually undertaken against the expressed wishes of the organisation. Using a simple framework which was developed to consider aspects of R&D project management and innovation strategy, it is argued that bootlegging can arise for many different reasons, such as "curiosity", to attack technical problems which have resulted in the disbandment of a project, or to assess markets which the organisation does not believe are viable or is not prepared to consider. If this is the case, one can conclude that the innovative performance of many organisations could be improved if more attention was paid to managing the process.