Researching Innovation and Change Processes

AIM Capacity-Building Workshop Cardiff University May 25, 2011

Andrew H. Van de Ven, PhD AIM Visiting International Fellow Carlson School of Management University of Minnesota, USA

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Stimulating Innovation
Creating New Business Carol Vorderman explains why she's backing the University's drive for business start-up

Awarding Innovation
The 2010 Innovation Award went to a collaboration between the School of Biosciences and Q Chip - a University spinout company which specialises in innovative drug delivery methods. Dr Kelly BruB, School of Biosciences (left) pictured with PhD student Ms Claire Gibson

Questions
How are innovations like this invented, developed and implemented?
1. What triggers the process 2. What guides its development? 3. How does it end?

Is there a pattern to the innovation journey? How increase the odds of maneuvering this innovation journey?

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Minnesota Innovation Research Program Focused on the Process of Innovation

Source: Van de Ven et al, The Innovation Journey, NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008, Download Chapter 1 5/25/2011

Initiation Period 1. Gestating chance events 2. Shocks trigger innovation efforts 3. Innovation team formed & funded based on plan Developmental Period 4. Activities proliferate 5. Setbacks and mistakes occur 6. Innovation goals and criteria change 7. Innovation personnel part time and turnover 8. Leadership involved and shift roles 9. Lock-in to developmental paths & relationships 10. Building innovation infrastructure Implementation/Termination Period 11. Linking new with old and reinvention 12. Innovations stop when implemented or money runs out
Source: Van de Ven et al, The Innovation Journey, NY: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008, Download Chapter 2.

Common Characteristics of the Innovation Journey

Initiating the Innovation Journey

Research Finding: Innovations are not initiated on the spur of the moment, by a single dramatic incident, or by a single entrepreneur. An extended gestation period often lasting several years, of seemingly random events occur before innovations are initiated. Many events are not intended to start an innovation. Some trigger recognition of need for change; others awareness of technical possibilities. Some of these events shock entrepreneurs to mobilize efforts to mobilize plans and resources for developing an innovation. Question: What can organizations do to increase the chance of innovation?
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Creating a Culture of Innovation at 3M

1. Vision. Declare the importance of innovation; make it part of the companys self-image. 2. Foresight. Find out where technologies & markets are going. Identify articulated & unarticulated needs of customers. 3. Stretch goals to make quantum improvements. (e.g., 30% of sales from products introduced in past 4 years). 4. Empowerment. Hire good people and trust them; delegate responsibilities, provide slack resources, & get out of the way. 5. Communications. Open, extensive exchanges according to ground rules in forums for sharing ideas, and where networking is each persons responsibility. 6. Rewards and recognition. Innovation is an intensely human activity. Emphasize recognition more than monetary rewards.
Source: William Coyne, Building a Tradition of Innovation, UK Innovation Lecture, 1996 Stated on Innovation for Dummies, Will Mitchell (Duke Univ.) offers the same advice..
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Innovation Development Period

Research Finding: Shortly after work begins:
Activities proliferate Setbacks and mistakes occur Innovation goals and criteria change Personnel are part time and turnover Firms get locked into spiders web of relationships Infrastructure bottlenecks emerge Leaders actively involved & play opposing roles

Question: What guides the innovation journey?

Processes of Learning, Leadership & Relationships
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Learning the Innovation Journey

Actions = net monthly # events in which innovation unit continued with minus change its course of a Outcomes = net monthly events of positive minus negative otcomes from events Plots are three-month moving averages

Model of Learning by Discovery & Testing

Divergent Activities

Learning by Discovery

Goals Actions Context

Learning by Testing

Convergent Activities

Goal

Characteristics: Chaotic Broad goals Tacit to Explicit Explore Alternatives

Characteristics: Trial and error Predictable outcomes Orderly learning Stable: memorize

Institutional Leader
sets structure, settles disputes

Sponsor Critic
challenges investments, goals,progress procures, advocates, champions

Mentor
coaches, counsels, advises

Entrepreneur
Manages innovation unit/venture

Leadership Roles in Innovation Development

Proposition on Balance & Timing of Innovation Leadership Roles

Organizational learning & adaptability increase when leader roles are exercised as follows during the innovation development journey
Many Entrepreneur

Mentor/ Sponsor Number of Events Involved

Institutional Leader

Critic

Few Formation of Innovation Unit Developmental Period Implementation of Innovation

Industry Infrastructure for Innovation

Participants are Distributed, Partisan, Embedded

Distributed: Different actors play key roles No single actor controls any developmental path Partisan: Actors participate from own frames Interests of producers, regulators, investors, etc. are not the same Solutions through partisan mutual adjustment and social movements Embedded: Actors become dependent on paths they create. Many opportunities for learning & escalation
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Those who run in packs will be more successful than those who go it alone
Innovation is a collective achievement.
No single actor can do it alone. Knowledge distributed in different people & places Innovation costs exceed proprietary benefits.

The Peloton

The crash
Stuff happens! Falling out of line Being ostracized

The breakaway
When run in a pack? When go it alone? First-mover advantages/disadvantages The technical design of the first-mover seldom becomes the dominant design that yields the greatest profits.

So, How does Innovation Journey Unfold?

Finding: The innovation journey is not sequential and orderly, nor random; instead, it is a nonlinear dynamic cycle of divergent & convergent activities that repeat over time and across levels if enabling & constraining conditions are present.
Implications:

Go with the flow -- You cannot control it, but you can learn to maneuver the journey. Enabling & constraining factors set innovation scope. Develop ambidextrous management skills. Multi-dimensional leadership - balance opposites
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Cycling the Innovation Journey

Constraining Factors External rules and mandates
Internal focus and self-organizing

Divergent Behavior A branching & expanding process of exploring new directions Creating ideas & strategies Learning by discovery Pluralistic leadership Building relationships and porous networks Creating Infrastructure for collective advantage - Running in packs

Convergent Behavior An integrating & narrowing process of exploiting a given direction Implementing ideas & strategies Learning by testing Unitary leadership Executing relationships in established networks Operating within infrastructure for competitive advantage

Enabling Factors Resource Investments

Unit Restructuring
Source: Van de Ven et al., The Innovation Journey. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. 2008, p. 185.

Your thoughts, please

Thank You! http://umn.edu/~avandeve

The Victor

Afternoon Workshop: Designing Process Research

1. Clarify meanings of process
Definitions of change process life cycle, teleology, dialectic, & evolution process theories simple, multiple, cumulative, conjunctive & iterative progressions

2. Clarify theory of process 3. Adopt new vocabulary to analyze processes 4. Design research to observe processes of change 5. Discuss change/innovation research proposals

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Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for Organizational and Social Research

by Andrew H. Van de Ven, (Oxford Univ. Press, 2007) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Book Chapters Engaged Scholarship in a Professional School* Philosophy of Science Problem Formulation Theory Building Process and Variance Models Designing Variance Studies Designing Process Studies Communicating & Using Research Knowledge Practicing Engaged Scholarship*

* Examination copy of chapter can be downloaded here

Process Research Definitions

> Meaning of process:
> A logic that explains a causal relationship > A category of concepts or variables > A narrative of how things change over time

> Change: an observed difference in form, quality or state over time in an entity. > Development: the progression of change events over the duration of an entitys existence > Process Theory: An explanation of an observed progression of change events in terms of generating mechanisms that cause events to happen in the world and the circumstances when they operate (Tsoukas, 1989).
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Definitions Derived From Change

Change an observed difference over time in an entity Invention when the change represents a new idea Innovation The invention and implementation of a new idea.
In each definition, the change (observed difference) may vary in: 1. Time (duration, pace, momentum of key events) 2. Newness (to an observer and the people involved) 3. Recombination of old changes (ideas, routines) in new ways. 4. Magnitude (from small/incremental to large/radical) 5. Complimentarity (relatedness to interdependent changes) 6. Unit of analysis (a project, series or platform of projects) 7. Level of analysis (individual, organization, industry, etc.) 8. Assessments (good, bad, advocate, resist)
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Aspects of Complex & Programmatic Change

Source: Mike Wallace Coping with complex and programmatic public service change, 2006.

EVOLUTION
Variation Multiple Entities Population Scarcity Environmental Selection Competition Unit of Change Selection Retention Thesis

DIALECTIC

Conflict Antithesis

Synthesis

Pluralism (Diversity) Confrontation Conflict

LIFE CYCLE
4 (Terminate) Stage 3 (Harvest) Stage 2 (Grow) Immanent Program Regulation Compliant adaptation
Prescribed Mode of Change

TELEOLOGY
Dissatisfaction Stage 1 (Startup) Implement Goals Set/Envision Goals Purposeful enactment Social construction Consensus
Constructive

Single Entity

Search/ Interact

Process Theories of Organizational Development and Change

Note: Arrows on lines represent likely sequences among events, not causation between events.
Source: A.H. Van de Ven and M.S. Poole, Explaining Development and Change in Organizations, Academy of Managemen Review, 20, 3, p. 520

Models of Organizational Change

Teleology Planned Change
Process Dissatisfaction, search, goal setting, & implementation Goal, opportunity or threat

Life Cycle Dialectic Evolution Regulated Change Conflictual Change Competitive Change
prescribed sequence of steps or stages of development Prefigured program regulated by nature, logic or rules Organic growth Confrontation, conflict Variation, selection & & synthesis between retention among opposing interests competing units Conflict between opposing forces Competition for scarce resources

Triggeri

Key metaphor Process failures

Purposeful cooperation Decision Biases, Lack of consensus Group think

Opposition, conflict

Competitive survival Requisite variety Lack of scarcity

Resistance to change Destructive conflict noncompliance Irresolvable Monitoring & control differences Obtaining buy in Internalizing mandates Negotiation skills Partisan mutual adjustment

Process remedies Critical thinking Rational decisions Consensus building Example Program Planning Model

Strategies for competitive advantage

Greiners model of Political action models Miners managerial organizational growth of change & protest model of evolution

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Approaches to Managing Change When Breakdowns Occur

Do you fix the organization to fit your model? Or Do you change your model to fit the organization?

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Process Research Worksheet

Issues Process Study Design 1. State your process research question 2. Whose viewpoint is featured? 3. How define process - as variable or event? 4. What process theories do you examine? 5. Real-time or historical observations? 6. What units examined within & over time? 7. Sample diversity in what dimensions? 8. Sample size: # of events and cases? Measurement & Analysis 1. Define your process concepts. 2. Define indicators of process concepts 3. What is an incident or event (a datum)? 4. How tabulate and analyze process data? 5. How develop a process Theory or narrative? Your Process Research Study

Steps & Suggestions for Designing Process Research

Key Step 1. Meaning of process 2. Theories of process 3. Frame of reference 4. Mode of inquiry Key Decision(s) Category of concepts or A developmental sequence? Examine one or more models? Whos viewpoint is featured? Deductive, inductive or abductive? Suggestions Process models are geared to studying how questions Apply and compare plausible alternative models Observe change process from a Specific participants viewpoint Iterate between modes of reasoning

5. Observational method Real-time or historical observations? Observe before outcomes are known 6. Source of change Age, cohort or transient sources? Develop parallel, synchronic and diachronic research design 7. Sample diversity Homogeneous or heterogeneous? Compare the broadest range possible 8. Sample size Number of events and cases? Focus on number of temporal intervals and granularity of events 9. Process research What data analysis methods to use? Match data analysis methods designs To number of cases and events

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Discussions of Process Research Worksheets

Issues Process Study Design 1. State your process research question 2. Whose viewpoint is featured? 3. How define process - as variable or event? 4. What process theories do you examine? 5. Real-time or historical observations? 6. What units examined within & over time? 7. Sample diversity in what dimensions? 8. Sample size: # of events and cases? Measurement & Analysis 1. Define your process concepts. 2. Define indicators of process concepts 3. What is an incident or event (a datum)? 4. How tabulate and analyze process data? 5. How develop a process Theory or narrative? Your Process Research Study

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Steps in Measuring & Analyzing Process Data

Key Step 1. Developing process concepts 2. Defining incidents & events 3. Specifying an incident Key Decision(s) What concepts or issues will you look at? What activities or incidents are indicators or what events? What is the qualitative datum? Suggestions Begin with sensitizing concepts and revise with field observations Incidents are observations, events are unobserved constructs Develop decision rules to bracket or code observations Ask informants to verify incidents

4. Measuring an incident What is a valid incident? 5. Identifying events 6. Developing process theory or narrative

What strategies are available to Apply a mix of qualitative and tabulate and organize field data? quantitative data analysis methods How move from surface observations Identify five characteristics of to a process theory? narrative theory

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Typology of Process Research Designs

Source: Poole, et al (2000) Organizational Change and Innovation Processes: Theory and Methods for research. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

A Sample Event Data Entry Form

Date:__________

Data Entry Forms #: ______ Event

Event: (description of actor, action, outcome in context) __________________________________________ __________________________________________ Observation: _______________________________ __________________________________________ Source: ____________________________________

2. Data Entry Forms

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Keywords: __________________________________

Existing Event Data File

Days
01/01/77

Added Columns
Keywords
i pe tr c ac a op on

Event
House & Doyle in Los Angeles conduct the 1st cochlear implant in the U.S. by implanting a limited # of patients using single electrode dev.

Observation
The event was published in W.F. House and K.Berliners, Cochelar Implants: Progress & Perspectives, Annals of Otology & Rhinol. 1982, p. 1-124.

Source

ASHA, May 1985 House, Academicians, transaction

0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0

outcomepositive

More Events

Qualitative Methods for Analyzing Process Data

Click HERE for Ann Langley Presentation
> > > > > > > Narrative Strategy Template Matching Grounded Theorizing Visual Mapping Temporal Bracketing Synthetic Strategy Quantitative Strategy
Ann Langley HEC, Montreal

Source: Ann Langley, Strategies for theorizing from Process data, Academy of Management Review, vol. 24, 1999
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Power (Accuracy) High

Low
Chronological list of events

Narratives, Stories

Visual process maps

Power-Generality Tradeoffs of Methods

Generality (Information Efficiency)

Event frequencies

Quantitative coded event time series

High

Example of Visual Mapping Strategy in CIP Case

Source: Van de Ven, Polley, Garud & Venkataraman, The Innovation Journey, NY: Oxford, 1999.

Example of Temporal Bracketing Strategy in CIP Case

Source: R. Garud & A. Van de Ven, An Empirical Evaluation of the Internal Corporate Venturing Process, Strategic Management Journal, 13 (1992): 93-109.

Example of Frequency Plots of Coded Event Sequences

Source: Van de Ven, Polley, Garud & Venkataraman, The Innovation Journey, NY: Oxford, 1999.

Analyzing Quantitative Process Data

Click HERE to Listen to Kevin Dooley
> Analyzing Event Sequence Data > Structures of Event Time Series > Models for examining different structures of time series
Orderly data Chaotic data Random data

Kevin Dooley Arizona State University

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