THE ILLEGITIMACY OF SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT INNOVATION IN ESTABLISHED FIRMS

This paper reports on a theory building effort to understand the persi stent difficulties with successful product innovation in large, establ ished firms. Drawing on an institutional approach, we suggest that the constituent activities of effective product innovation either violate established practice or fall into a vacuum where no shared understand ings exist to make them meaningful. Product innovation, therefore, is illegitimate. This means that to enhance their innovative abilities, m anagers must weave the activities of product innovation into their ins titutionalized system of thought and action, not merely change structu res or add values. We use insights from 134 innovators to identify the different ways that product innovation is illegitimate, and to consid er alternate ways to overcome these problems. Exploratory results sugg est that successful product innovators experience as many instances of illegitimacy as others, but creatively reframed their activities more often to legitimate their work. We conclude with some new insights fo r why barriers to innovation exist in large, established firms, and ho w those barriers can be managed.