Article: The relationship between 'creative slack' as an intangible asset and the innovative capabilities of the firm Journal: International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM) 2024 Vol.96 No.4 pp.279 - 299 Abstract: The notion of creative slack purposefully refers to the notion of organisational slack proposed by Penrose (1959), who suggested that managers in organisations always have some stock of unused resources that inevitably accumulate when developing projects and are the primary factors determining the growth and innovation of the firm. In this contribution, we aim at adding a new dimension to the notion of organisational slack. Our view is that in many innovative organisations the slack of unused ideas is essentially a creative one, which is accumulated in diverse communities through multiple projects. This creative slack is a key intangible asset and a source of knowledge creation and innovation. To explain how organisations may benefit from exploiting the creative slack accumulated by communities, we rely on the analysis of two case studies, that of the Hydro-Québec Research Institute (IREQ), and of Ubisoft Montreal. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: The relationship between 'creative slack' as an intangible asset and the innovative capabilities of the firm

Authors: Patrick Cohendet; Olivier Dupouët; Raouf Naggar; Romain Rampa; Laurent Simon

Addresses: HEC Montréal, 3000 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC H3T-2A7, Canada ' Kedge Business School, 680 Cr de la Libération, 33405 Talence, France; Université Clermont Auvergne, 11 Boulevard Charles de Gaulle – 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France ' HEC Montréal, 3000 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC H3T-2A7, Canada ' I3-CRG, Ecole Polytechnique – CNRS, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau, France ' HEC Montréal, 3000 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC H3T-2A7, Canada

Abstract: The notion of creative slack purposefully refers to the notion of organisational slack proposed by Penrose (1959), who suggested that managers in organisations always have some stock of unused resources that inevitably accumulate when developing projects and are the primary factors determining the growth and innovation of the firm. In this contribution, we aim at adding a new dimension to the notion of organisational slack. Our view is that in many innovative organisations the slack of unused ideas is essentially a creative one, which is accumulated in diverse communities through multiple projects. This creative slack is a key intangible asset and a source of knowledge creation and innovation. To explain how organisations may benefit from exploiting the creative slack accumulated by communities, we rely on the analysis of two case studies, that of the Hydro-Québec Research Institute (IREQ), and of Ubisoft Montreal.

Keywords: creative slack; communities; turbulent environment; formal organisation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2024.140717

International Journal of Technology Management, 2024 Vol.96 No.4, pp.279 - 299

Received: 02 Jan 2022
Received in revised form: 07 Nov 2022
Accepted: 03 Jan 2023
Published online: 02 Sep 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article

Title: The relationship between 'creative slack' as an intangible asset and the innovative capabilities of the firm

Keep up-to-date