Government support can foster innovation by shaping organizational routines

Why It Matters

This research suggests that simply funding innovation is insufficient; effective policy must consider how it alters the ingrained processes and behaviours within an organization. By focusing on the 'how' of innovation adoption, designers and policymakers can create more impactful strategies.

Key Finding

The study proposes that government innovation support is most effective when it actively shapes and evolves a company's internal processes and behaviours (organizational routines), rather than just providing funding.

Key Findings

• The concept of behavioural additionality lacks a clear definition and theoretical background, often failing to identify a specific unit of analysis.
• Organizational routines, encompassing ostensive, performative, and artefact aspects, can serve as a robust unit of analysis for understanding behavioural additionality.
• An evolutionary approach, focusing on the government-influenced evolution of these routines, provides a suitable framework for analysing behavioural additionality.

Research Evidence

Aim: How can the concept of behavioural additionality in innovation policy be redefined and evaluated using organizational routines as the unit of analysis and an evolutionary approach as the framework?

Method: Case Study

Procedure: The research developed a theoretical framework for behavioural additionality based on organizational routines and evolutionary theory, then applied this framework to two case studies of innovation support programmes (Turkish TIDEB and British Collaborative R&D) to illustrate its micro-level application.

Context: Innovation Policy Evaluation

Design Principle

Innovation support should aim for the evolutionary enhancement of organizational routines.

How to Apply

When developing a new product or service that requires adoption by other organizations, consider how to integrate it into their existing routines or how to facilitate the evolution of those routines to accommodate the new offering.

Limitations

The study's empirical application was a 'plausibility probe' using case studies, suggesting further empirical validation is needed. The focus is primarily on the micro-level of firms.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: Think about how new ideas or policies change the way people in a company actually do their jobs, not just what they produce.

Why This Matters: Understanding how organizations adopt new ideas helps you design products and services that are more likely to be successful and integrated into existing systems.

Critical Thinking: To what extent can 'organizational routines' be universally defined and measured across diverse industries and company cultures?

IA-Ready Paragraph: This research highlights the importance of considering organizational routines when evaluating the impact of interventions. By viewing behavioural additionality through an evolutionary lens, it suggests that successful innovation support fosters the development and adaptation of a firm's ingrained processes and behaviours, rather than merely providing resources.

Project Tips

• When designing a product that needs to be adopted by a business, consider how it fits into their current workflow and what changes might be needed.
• When evaluating the success of a design intervention, look beyond immediate results to see if it has changed long-term behaviours or processes.

How to Use in IA

• Reference this research when discussing how your design solution integrates with or changes user behaviours and organizational processes.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of how your design solution impacts established organizational routines and behaviours, not just its functional performance.

Independent Variable: Government innovation policy interventions

Dependent Variable: Evolution of organizational routines (behavioural additionality)

Controlled Variables: Specific organizational characteristics, industry sector, existing routines

Strengths

• Provides a novel theoretical framework for understanding innovation policy effectiveness.
• Integrates behavioural additionality with established concepts of organizational routines and evolutionary theory.

Critical Questions

• What are the practical challenges in measuring the 'evolution' of organizational routines?
• How can this framework be applied to evaluate policies beyond direct government funding, such as regulatory changes?

Extended Essay Application

• An Extended Essay could explore the application of this framework to a specific industry or type of innovation support, conducting a qualitative analysis of how a particular policy has influenced the routines of a set of companies.

Source

An Evolutionary Approach to Innovation Policy Evaluation: Behavioural Additionality and Organisational Routines · Research Portal (King's College London) · 2010