Towards a modified framework for informer emancipation in complex contexts

This paper addresses the tensions between rigid efficient systems that support the routine processes of productive institutions and the innovations required for the sustainable development of those institutions in changing dynamic complex environments. It examines the efforts of a mature age PhD student researcher with extensive business experience attempting to undertake action research on a disruptive technology within a conservative university context. The experience has motivated reflective research on the barriers to innovative communication in hierarchical institutions with silo-based legacy systems specifically designed to handle routinized information flows and support formalized decision-making. The student researcher then undertook an online review of intellectual property policies and related commercialization guidelines in universities throughout Australia which confirmed shortcoming in the suitability of such policies to encourage the engagement of business entities and/or private individuals wishing to undertake research with overt commercial outcomes. The findings lead to the development of a framework that may, if applied, help to overcome the widespread communication problems among those facing complex wicked problems in large and long established conservative institutions.