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There is a growing interest in innovation ecosystems. Embedding innovation processes in ecosystems comes with several opportunities and managerial challenges. This paper's aim is to increase our understanding of the strategies that industrial firm managers use to deal with innovation ecosystems. How do they align partners and activities while securing and developing their role in the ecosystem? Drawing on 98 interviews with CEOs, CTOs and innovation managers in Germany and the Netherlands, we identify two layers in innovation ecosystems: an explorative layer, which is open and aimed at identifying opportunities for innovation, and an exploitative layer, which is semi‐closed and aimed at enacting these opportunities to create new value propositions for customers. We analyse how companies act upon these two layers productively, particularly in relation to alignment and strategic positioning; how they create synergies between the different layers; and how they cope with the existing tensions. Furthermore, we discuss differences in strategic choices regarding ecosystem strategies, and propose a maturity model for the development of innovation ecosystem strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A majority of performing arts organizations active in classical music, theatre, and contemporary dance rely on funding from “third parties” in order to organize productions in a recurrent manner. We adopt an entrepreneurial perspective to inform the debate on the economic sustainability of performing arts organizations: Is it a “deficit” in entrepreneurial orientation that condemns these organizations to financial dependence? Relying on a comparative case study design (n = 12), we distill a process model of performing arts entrepreneurship (PAE), which we compare with insights on innovative entrepreneurship. Our findings reveal that it is neither a lack of entrepreneurial dynamics nor the presence of opposing logics that creates dependence on multiple revenue streams. The introduction of a second revenue stream follows from adhering to artistic distinctiveness. Implications for practice and theory are elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Lévi‐Strauss’ concept of bricolage has been used widely in a variety of management and organizational studies to highlight creative ‘situational tinkering’. Yet, we know little about ‘the bricoleur’ beyond the assumption of a functional agent responding to conditions of resource scarcity or environmental complexity. As such, studies offer limited possibilities in explaining the occurrence of bricolage in the absence of external demands, or much about who the bricoleur is. Drawing on 136 in‐depth interviews with management consultants, this study argues for a richer understanding of bricolage by exploring the identity of the bricoleur. In doing so, the paper achieves three outcomes. First, it uses the original symbolic and cultural insights of bricolage made by Lévi‐Strauss to detail how bricoleur identities are constructed; Second, it highlights how different organizational strategies enable and constrain the pursuit of bricoleur identities; Finally, it emphasizes the bricoleur's status as primarily an aspirational elite identity in the context of consultancy work, in contrast to its usual treatment as a ‘low status’ activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although prior studies increased our understanding of the performance implications of new product development ( NPD) team members' functional backgrounds and demographic variables, they remained relatively silent on the impact of underlying psychological characteristics such as the team members' cognitive styles on project performance. The goal of this study is to explore the effects of NPD teams' cognitive styles on project performance in different kinds of NPD projects. Based on survey data from members of 95 NPD teams gathered in four Dutch manufacturing companies, hypotheses about the relationships between teams' cognitive styles and project performance of radical and incremental NPD projects are tested. Results of linear regression analyses show that the level of teams' analytical information processing positively affects project performance in both incremental and radical NPD projects, whereas the relationship between the level of teams' intuitive information processing and project performance depends on the radicalness of the project. These findings contribute to the academic discussion on team innovation, suggesting that, next to demographic and functional characteristics, cognitive styles in teams also significantly influence project performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of new product development (NPD) have identified a variety of factors that influence cycle time, but most of these findings are based on case studies of individual firms. The few empirical studies that have attempted to examine the generalizability of these findings have tended to focus on one set of decisions (e.g., product strategy decisions) without considering the impact of organizational variables. To address this gap in the literature, this paper examines the impact on perceived cycle time of six variables that reflect a business unit's NPD strategy, NPD environment, product strategy, and NPD processes. The study also examines whether the impact of each of these antecedent variables is independent of the remaining variables. Contingency theory implies that cycle time performance will reflect the internal consistency of multiple contingencies and multiple structural characteristics. This implication is tested by evaluating the incremental explanatory power of two distance variables: one based on a theoretically defined ideal profile; and a second based on an empirically defined ideal profile. This analysis is important, because it permits a test of the proposition that understanding the pattern of contextual and structural variables adds additional insight to the understanding of cycle time performance. The analysis, based on data collected from 164 firms, indicates that the development of a formal NPD strategy, the creation of an appropriate climate for innovation, and the use of cross-functional teams all contributed to improved perceptions of satisfactory cycle times. It was also found that executives in business units with broad product lines were less likely to perceive their cycle times as satisfactory. Contrary to expectations, an increasing emphasis on products involving breakthrough core processes was found to increase perceptions of satisfactory cycle times. Moreover, the use of heavyweight project managers had no significant impact on cycle time perceptions. The study also found no evidence to indicate that deviations from either a theoretically or an empirically defined ideal profile lengthen perceived cycle time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Albertina Medeiros and collegues on the challenges of developing concepts for new products and another by Miia Martinsuo on a course in which students work in small teams with employees from an actual company.

Divergence and convergence are both important elements of organizational design processes. This is often stated in the normative design literature, but it has hardly been studied empirically. How do designers of organizations diverge and converge in practice? Do they first develop alternatives and then choose the best one? Do they go through one or more successive cycles? And what makes them choose a certain route? In an in-depth study of management consulting, we identified five different routes for diverging and converging in practice: one route for simple situations and four routes for complex situations. These routes differ in their sequence of activities, in their use of alternative solutions, and in their focus on content or on politics. It is shown that most design processes appear diamond-shaped, with a divergent and a convergent side, but that these diamonds are often coloured or even fake, especially in socio-politically complex situations. Pseudo-divergence, i.e., the process of apparent divergence in public, is widespread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their efforts to change organizations, managers and change consultants are time and again confronted with the limited controllability of organizations, the complexity and indeterminacy of change processes and the uncertain and ambiguous effects of their actions. In short, they are confronted with chaos. Some managers and consultants try to enhance their (illusion of) control over organizations by attempting to reduce chaos, while others accept and embrace chaos and base their change practice on it. This article focuses on the second group. Based on a study of literature and a series of interviews with experienced change consultants, a typology is developed, in which an enlightened modern, an ironic, and a postmodern way of coping with chaos in change processes is elaborated. The typology may help change consultants and managers with the development of their way of working and the articulation of their professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suggests that the growing need to be innovative and the increasing availability of innovative competencies on the market result in a pressure on research and development departments to improve their work. Fields of competence in the department; Establishment of competitive advantage; Processes of competence creation.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including social networks, technological innovations, and creative ability in technology.

An introduction is presented which the authors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the study of the collective problem solving (CPS), performance and innovation management, and the relationships among risk-taking, proactiveness, and innovation output in family and non-family firms.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles within the issue on topics including impact of work overload on employees' creative behaviour; a study showing how threat of job loss impairs employees' innovativeness; and innovation in small‐ and medium-sized enterprises.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the authors discuss several articles within the issue on topics including the team creative performance, the relationship between emotional intelligence and creativity, and business model innovation.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Frances Jørgensen and John Ulhøi, on the essential role that networks play in building innovation capacity, one by Lars Bengtsson and colleagues on learning opportunities that occurs when acting both as the master and apprentice, and one by Anders Richtnér and Pär Åhlström on the ability of companies to maintain innovation while reducing organizational slack.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses an article on a valuable model to predict new product performance by Sarah MacCurtain, and colleagues, one related to the role of creative self-efficacy in sustaining creative performance by Eric Chong, and colleagues, and one focusing on the ways in which communities can be employed in technological competence leveraging by Peter Keinz, and Reinhard Prügl.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including business models, healthcare, and corporate venturing programs.

Several reports published in the current issue of the journal are presented including unveiling the potentialities provided by new technologies to pursue technology epiphanies in the smartphone app, Impact of chief executive officers' (CEO's) cognitive style on incremental and innovation performance and gamification of creativity and exploring usefulness of games for ideation.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including knowledge sharing of employees, innovation networks of small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurial leadership.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue including innovation process control, deliberate decision making and team creativity.

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including creativity and innovation in haute cuisine, relationship between leaders' social intelligence and their creative performance, and social conflicts in innovation processes.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including and learning approaches, managerial competencies and inter-organizational innovations.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including management in creative industries, creativity in business, and creative teams in performing arts.

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including design management, open innovation and organizational climate.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including innovation contests, cross-divisional innovation in corporations, and typology of product development communities and teams.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including problematic use of transaction cost economics in open innovation, creative knowledge-intensive business service, and creativity management that leads to innovation.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which an editor discusses several articles including one related to the Continuous Innovation Network (CINet) conference, second related to theme of ideation in companies, and last related to the consequences for the development of new products.

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including relationship analysis between creative ability and design theory, identity of emerging technology, and concepts of open innovation.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the new path in organizational creativity, the interaction between organizing process and collective creativity, and the importance of visual effects industry in the creative outcomes if heterarchic organizations.

An introduction to the article is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Katja Hutter and colleagues on the concept of communitition, one by Karsten Frey and Christian Lüthje on the antecedents and consequences of quality interaction in virtual end-user communities, and one by Sven Hemlin and Lisa Olsson on the approaches of group leaders to stimulate creativity in the academic and industrial research settings.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Scott Isaksen and G öran Ekvall on tension in organizational climates, one by Jan Kratzer, Hans Georg Gemünden and Katharina Hölzle on the evaluation of the creative performance of research and development (R&D) teams and another one by Per Kristensson and Peter Magnusson on the inclusion of customers in the development of innovative services.

An introduction to the periodical is presented where the editor discusses several articles including a multiple case study on research and development alliances by Dries Faems and colleagues, another on creative techniques like speedstorming and brainstorming by Caneel K. Joyce and colleagues and another on research leadership in public universities by Finn Hansson and colleagues.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including technological entrepreneurship, use of social media in inbound open innovation, and innovative entrepreneurial teams.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Wim Vanhaberbeke and colleagues on open innovation practices in corporate venturing, one by Richard Florida on the growth of cities, and one by Rob Hoppe on medical technological innovations policy systems.

The article introduces the current issue discussing several articles published therein, including a book review by Pier Abetti, a report on the recent meeting by Gerard Puccio, and a call for papers from Toff Lubart.

The article discusses various papers published within the issue including one by Casimer DeCusatis on innovation teams, and another on enhancing of discontinuous innovation through knowledge combination.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including "Creative Potential and Practised Creativity: Identifying Untapped Creativity in Organizations" by Trudy DiLiello and Jeffery Houghton and "Exploring the Effect of Cognitive Biases on Customer Support Services" by Heiko Gebauer, Regine Krempl and Elgar Fleisch.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including innovation, creativity, and gamification.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the online communities creative behavior across cultures, leadership novel perspective in development and research, and value-focused thinking in management of idea.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the author discusses an article on personality traits and creative styles by Gerard Puccio and Chris Grivas, an article that reviews the literature on the leadership of creativity and innovation and an article that explores the role of guanxi networks in Chinese culture by Ming-Huei Chen.

The article introduces several articles published in this issue on the theme "Managing the efficiency-flexibility tension in innovation: strategic and organizational aspects," and an article calling papers for the 2009 CINet Conference to be held in Brisbane, Australia from September 4 to 8, 2009.