18 February 2015

Call for papers: "Management Innovation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

Scholars of innovation typically focus on its technical dimension only. Being innovative is reduced to the introduction of new products on the market or to the introduction of new processes in production. The restrictive conception is dominant today and focuses the attention of directors, policy makers and academic researchers.

Innovation is not only technological but can also be organizational. Authors like Birkinshaw, Hamel and Mol have begun to question whether it is possible for firms to create a long-term competitive advantage based on product or process innovations. In a world of accelerated exchange of ideas, technologies and capital, Hamel says, only “management innovation” can result in long-term competitive advantages. Management innovation is defined as “the invention and implementation of a management practice, process, structure, or technique that is new to the state of the art and is intended to further organizational goals”.

Management innovation can be approached in different ways. The goal of this special issue is to encourage scholars of every area of management to study the particular type of innovation that is management innovation. Specifically, it is meant as an opportunity to reflect on the idea put forward by Hamel that this innovation should be considered as the main innovation and to determine the impact that a management innovation can have for the various divisions of the firm bringing to bear the perspectives of multiple management disciplines (Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Finance, Accounting, Logistics, Information Systems, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship).

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Drivers of management innovation
  • What are the main drivers of management innovation?
  • What is the role of different types of managers, ranging from terrain manager to owner manager, in the process of development and implementation of management innovation?
  • Is collaboration with actors outside the firm a driver for management innovation?
  • What is the role of consultants in the spread of management innovation?
  • What is the role of governments and academia in the spread of management innovation?
The process of management innovation
  • Does management innovation emerge spontaneously or is it the result of a deliberate process?
  • Is management innovation fundamentally a participatory phenomenon or is it possible to carry out management innovations by means of a top-down process?
  • What are the links between management innovation and other forms of innovation?
  • Are there dynamics of resistance against management innovation?
The impact of management innovation
  • What is the impact of management innovation on the economic and financial performance? Is it better than performance obtained through other types of innovation?
  • Does a management innovation have less impact the wider it spreads? Is there a first mover advantage in management innovation?
  • Is management innovation really a source of long-term competitive advantage?

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 December, 2015
Notification to authors: 1 March, 2016
Final versions due: 31 May, 2016

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