Aesthetics of business innovation: Experiencing 'internal process' versus 'external jolts'
Rafael Ramirez
Professor, HEC-Paris and Fellow at Templeton College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Niklas Arvidsson
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm, Sweden
PP: 373 - 388
Abstract
This paper summarizes findings of a research project on business innovation. It contrasts two forms of innovation - those of 'internal process' and 'external jolt'.
We propose that their deployment depends on how managers responsible for business innovation in large firms feel about, and sense and make sense of innovation. The felt-sensed form of innovation that they find appealing or with which they are comfortable, makes a big difference on what type of innovation process is actually put in place, and is sometimes manifested in the actual business model.
Our ambition is to highlight these so-called 'non-rational' aspects in innovation decision-making that, we propose, complement - and sometimes shape - rational analyses determining managerial efforts to innovate.
Keywords
business aesthetics; internal-process innovation aesthetic; external-jolt innovation aesthetic; organisational fit; managing innovation; 'what feels right'; sustainable business cycle; Shell's Gamechanger; case study; management implications
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