| dc.description.abstract | This thesis explores how innovation at the edge can take place in established firms. This
qualitative interview study is conducted in the setting of a large Norwegian insurance company
and looks at two of its innovation initiatives perceived at the edge. The inductive findings of
this research are then set into the context of the limited existing literature on innovation at the
edge and existing theory on ambidexterity, as well as of a prescriptive consulting framework.
First, this research explores the origins of innovation initiatives at the edge and finds that
strategic projects can be a suitable method to generate innovation initiatives at the edge as well
as acquisitions.
Furthermore, this study identifies six features of innovation initiatives at the edge suitable not
only to differentiate approaches, but also to explore how the extent of each feature affects the
evolution of the innovation initiative. These six features are the distance to the core, the
drivers, the focus of the collaboration, the top management support, the development processes
and progress measurements, and the perceptions of uninvolved employees from the core. The
findings show how the how these features not only affect each other, such as a far distance to
the core potentially improving the perception of employees from the core, or the drivers of the
initiative influencing the progress measurements used. It also shows how the features influence
the challenges for the initiative and its trajectory over time.
In addition, this research extends the existing literature on innovation at the edge comparing
the characteristics to ambidexterity as well as the consulting framework. It shows key
differences and similarities to ambidexterity as well as to the consulting framework to
innovation at the edge.
Furthermore, the relationship of top management support and top management interference
and its effect on innovation at the edge is explored. This research then presents a matrix
suitable to categorize innovation initiatives.
Additionally, besides the six features, this research develops a suitable tool to evaluate
innovation initiatives assessing the initiative’s attribution to the edge.
Further research is necessary to extend the limited research-based knowledge on innovation at
the edge. | en_US |
