From initiatives to employee-driven innovations
European Journal of Innovation Management
ISSN: 1460-1060
Article publication date: 22 August 2017
Issue publication date: 8 May 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the generation of innovations by employees and the creation of initiative paths, and to discover which factors contribute to the implementation of an initiative.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on longitudinal qualitative research, the study explores the profiles of initiative paths and the types of innovations and relationships among the generated innovations.
Findings
It was found that, to become an innovation, an initiative followed different paths along which the processing and outcomes varied, as did the time needed for experimentation. The creation of initiative paths required the transformative agency of the actors involved. Power relations had an impact on the generation of initiatives and implementation of innovations.
Originality/value
Innovations research has concentrated on the generation of ideas and the implementation of innovations. This study focuses on the process path along which ideas become innovations and on the role of power relations in the innovations process.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their invaluable suggestions and constructive feedback throughout the revision process. The authors are also grateful to Gill Crabbe for the language review and helpful comments. Special thanks go to the practitioners at Posti Corporation who by participating in the Change Laboratory intervention made writing of this paper possible.
Citation
Haapasaari, A., Engeström, Y. and Kerosuo, H. (2018), "From initiatives to employee-driven innovations", European Journal of Innovation Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 206-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-09-2016-0085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited