The Isomorphism of Innovation

Description

Innovation has risen to a pervasive imperative that permanently pressures contemporary organizations of all societal areas to actively work on and show their innovativeness (see e.g. Windeler 2016). Even the practices and processes in which innovation is created are subject to ongoing renewal (as captured in the slogan ‘innovate innovation’). Against this background, the decisions on (1) who partakes in innovation activities, (2) how roles and responsibilities are distributed, and (3) how innovation settings are designed, have become powerful means in the (de-)stabilization of contemporary societal orders. But where does the knowledge about how to innovate comes from, how does it circulate and how it manifest? While innovation is mystified by closely entangling it with the paradigms of creativity, novelty, and originality (see e.g. Schumpeter 1954), the dominance of the ‘Silicon Valley innovation model,’ or the widespread success of ‘design thinking’ bear witness to isomorphic tendencies of imitation, rationalization, professionalization and homogenization. This study takes this impression as a starting point for an empirical exploration of (isomorphism in the) organization of innovation processes.

Period	10 Dec 2019
Event title	FORSCHUNGSWERKSTATT
Event type	Other
Location	GermanyShow on map