Strategic Management of Strategic Innovation

Abstract

Purpose: Strategic innovation is a nascent concept which sees strategy as a revolutionary innovative process. Although this concept falls under the discipline of modern strategic management but its procedural development has not been strategically conceptualized. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to bridge this theoretical knowledge gap in the existing boy of literature by developing an organizing model based on the applications of strategic management principles. Design: Philosophically this study is an interpretive research which applies an intensive literature review using Nvivo8 software. The idea of study comes from my PhD proposal. The method of investigation is critical conceptual analysis. A set of discussions about the purpose and design of the research has been carried out in order to improve the structure of the draft. The final arrangement of research body has been collaboratively made to help practitioners gain better insight into the rational and progress of the study. Findings: This study reveals that the process of managing strategic innovation goes beyond classical view of innovation management due to its inherent complexities, radical structure and high level of involved risks and perplexities and thus a novel strategic approach based on the contemporary strategic planning increase the likelihood of successful formulation of strategic innovation by managers and executives. This approach is then illustrated in the form of an illustrative organizing model. Research limitations/implications: As strategic innovation is relatively a new branch of modern strategic management its theoretical structure has received little universal field evidence. Thus this research is limited to conceptual side of this strand. Furthermore research in this domain is highly localized due to the nature of strategic innovation and its reliance in regional industrial conditions. So the suggested model may not be generalizable for all settings and further empirical studies are required to compliment the model. Practical implications: The findings of this study imply a need for an entrepreneurial strategic thinking for formulation of strategic innovation as well as a new strategic mindset to align market evolution with strategic revolution. These implications broaden the span of strategic thinking and cognitive planning of managers and enable them to gain a novel insight into this growing field. By taking these issues into considerations managers can develop more effective strategies and make more efficient decisions for re-conceptualizing their business models and rendering new competitive positions. Originality/value: In spite of attempts to enrich the body of knowledge in strategic innovation over the past few years the importance of strategic planning mindset has been overlooked and this article perhaps is pioneering this approach by developing a novel holistic model that not only enables mangers to capture a broad understanding of the process of strategic innovation but understand its challenges and simultaneously craft simple methods to cope with them effectively.