Title: Radical innovation in medium-sized enterprises: an exploratory study of strategic intent and innovation process

Authors: Richard DeMartino; Heidi M. Neck; Patricia A. Dwyer; Connie Treese

Addresses: E. Philip Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology, 108 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5603, USA. ' Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, Babson College, Babson Park, MA 02453, USA. ' Dwyer Development Group, LLC, 11 Railroad Mills Road, Pittsford, NY 14534, USA. ' Xerox Corporation, 1350 Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY 14623, USA

Abstract: There is a significant and growing body of research on radical innovation as a path to corporate renewal and growth. Despite this existing literature, very little is known regarding the role of radical innovation in medium-sized enterprises (MSEs). The vast majority of radical innovation knowledge emerges from research on large established companies. Employing a qualitative and exploratory methodology to examine the radical innovation efforts in nine MSEs, we found that radical innovation tends to be narrowly defined, closely aligned with current businesses, and market-driven. Processes are both formal and ad-hoc but in general lack separation from incremental innovation processes.

Keywords: radical innovation; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; corporate entrepreneurship; USA; New York State; United States; strategic intent; innovation processes; corporate renewal; corporate growth; current business; market-driven innovation; formal processes; ad-hoc processes; incremental processes; innovation management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2012.046650

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2012 Vol.15 No.3, pp.216 - 234

Published online: 31 Jul 2014 *

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