Tanya Sammut-Bonnici

Darwinism, probability and complexity: market-based organizational transformation and change explained through the theories of evolution

The study of transformation and change is one of the most important areas of social science research. This paper synthesizes and critically reviews the emerging traditions in the study of change dynamics. Three mainstream theories of evolution are introduced to explain change: the Darwinian concept of survival of the fittest, the Probability model and the Complexity approach. The literature review provides a basis for development of research questions that search for a more comprehensive understanding of organizational change. The paper concludes by arguing for the development of a complementary research tradition, which combines an evolutionary and organizational analysis of transformation and change.

Developing a Dominant Logic of Strategic Innovation

Purpose: This paper aims to lay the foundations to develop a dominant logic and a common thematic framework of strategic innovation, and to encourage consensus over the field’s core foundation of main themes. Methods: We explore the intersection between the constituent fields of strategic management and innovation management through a concept mapping process. We categorize the main themes and search for common ground in order to develop the core thematic framework of strategic innovation. We look at the sub themes of strategic innovation in published research and develop a more detailed framework. The conceptual categories derived from the process are then placed in a logical sequence according to how they occur in practice or in the order of how the concepts develop from one other. Findings: The results yield seven main themes that form the main taxonomy of strategic innovation: types of strategic innovation, environmental analysis of strategic innovation, strategic innovation planning, enabling strategic innovation, collaborative networks, managing knowledge, and strategic outcomes. Research limitations and implications: The new thematic framework we are proposing for strategic innovation remains preliminary in nature and would need to be tried and tested by researchers and practitioners in order to gain acceptability. Academic rigor and methodological structure are not sufficient to determine whether our conceptual framework will become widely diffused in academia and industry. It would have to pass through an emergent, evolutionary process of selection, adoption and an inevitable degree of change and adaptation, just like any other innovation. Practical implications: The practical implications concern the production of instructive material and the application of strategic management initiatives in industry. The proposed themes and sub themes can serve as a logical framework to develop and update publications, which have been instrumental in their own right to shape the field. The paper also provides a checklist of potential research projects in strategic innovation, which will improve and strengthen the field. The new framework provides a comprehensive checklist of strategic management initiatives that will help industry to initiate, plan and execute effective innovation strategies. Originality: The concept mapping of the themes of strategic innovation yield a new dominant logic, which will influence the evolution of the field and its relevance to both academia and industry.