Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Raising Radicals: Different Processes for Championing Innovative Corporate Ventures

Raising Radicals: Different Processes for Championing Innovative Corporate Ventures This study investigates the types of championing processes that explain the innovativeness of 136 internal corporate ventures. Current theory suggests that bottom-up champions create the most innovative ventures. In contrast, this paper argues that both bottom-up and top-down champions are suitable for developing innovative ventures. Using a broadly based sample of Fortune 1000 firms, the study supports both bottom-up and top-down processes including a special dual-role principal champion, who acts both as product champion and organizational sponsor. The functions or roles of these top management and dual-role champions are quite different from bottom-up champions and represent relatively unexplored top-down championing processes. Preliminary results show support for an emerging theory that top management champions arise when ventures are expensive and visible and when they represent new strategic directions or resource reconfigurations for the firm. In contrast, dual-role champions emerge from the firm's upper ranks when an innovative idea is highly uncertain but not technology-driven. The paper proposes an integrative view of championing in which any one of three types of championing processes may be the most relevant for a particular venture, depending on what it needs to achieve innovative outcomes. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Organization Science INFORMS

Raising Radicals: Different Processes for Championing Innovative Corporate Ventures

Day, Diana L.
Organization Science , Volume 5 (2): 25 – May 1, 1994
Download PDF
25 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/informs/raising-radicals-different-processes-for-championing-innovative-uQtaA0ZiAf

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
INFORMS
Copyright
Copyright © INFORMS
Subject
Research Article
ISSN
1047-7039
eISSN
1526-5455
DOI
10.1287/orsc.5.2.148
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study investigates the types of championing processes that explain the innovativeness of 136 internal corporate ventures. Current theory suggests that bottom-up champions create the most innovative ventures. In contrast, this paper argues that both bottom-up and top-down champions are suitable for developing innovative ventures. Using a broadly based sample of Fortune 1000 firms, the study supports both bottom-up and top-down processes including a special dual-role principal champion, who acts both as product champion and organizational sponsor. The functions or roles of these top management and dual-role champions are quite different from bottom-up champions and represent relatively unexplored top-down championing processes. Preliminary results show support for an emerging theory that top management champions arise when ventures are expensive and visible and when they represent new strategic directions or resource reconfigurations for the firm. In contrast, dual-role champions emerge from the firm's upper ranks when an innovative idea is highly uncertain but not technology-driven. The paper proposes an integrative view of championing in which any one of three types of championing processes may be the most relevant for a particular venture, depending on what it needs to achieve innovative outcomes.

Journal

Organization Science – INFORMS

Published: May 1, 1994

Keywords: Keywords : championing ; corporate entrepreneurship ; internal corporate venturing ; innovation ; top management

There are no references for this article.