How do established firms improve radical innovation performance? The organizational capabilities view

• Published in: Technovation Vol. 32; no. 7-8; pp. 441 - 451
• Main Authors: Chang, Yuan-Chieh, Chang, Huo-Tsan, Chi, Hui-Ru, Chen, Ming-Huei, Deng, Li-Ling
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2012; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Autonomy; Established firms; Experimentation; Hypotheses; Hypothesis; Innovation; Innovation performance; Innovations; Manufacturing; Organization theory; Organizational behaviour; Organizational capabilities; Organizational effectiveness; Performance enhancement; Questionnaires; Radical innovation; Radicals; Regression; Studies; Taiwan; Organizational capabilities; Innovation performance; Established firms; Radical innovation
• ISSN: 0166-4972; 1879-2383
• DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2012.03.001

The paper examines organizational capabilities for improving performance, with respect to radical innovation (RI), in established firms. These organizational capabilities are (1) openness capability, (2) autonomy capability, (3) integration capability and (4) experimentation capability. The paper proposes four research hypotheses, to examine the relationship between four types of organizational capabilities and radical innovation performance. A dataset of 112 corporate RI-specific capabilities and innovation performance data, from the top 500 Taiwanese manufacturing firms, is collected via a postal questionnaire survey. The multiple regression results reveal a positive relationship between organizational capabilities and radical innovation performance. Finally, some managerial recommendations, to develop radical innovation capabilities, are provided. ► The paper examines organizational capabilities of radical innovation. ► There are four capabilities: openness, autonomy, integration and experimentation. ► Organizational capabilities are positively associated with innovative performance.