Lisboa e o Tejo, Domingo, Carlos Botelho, 1935
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Firm growth and innovation: Towards a typology of innovation strategy
Vasco Eiriz
Ana Faria
Natália Barbosa
Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice 15(1): 97-111
2013
This article discusses innovation across the firm’s life cycle. By discussing how firms’ innovation decisions change over time and across the different stages of firm growth, we add to the literature on innovation and strategy by proposing a typology of innovation strategy. In this original contribution, innovation strategies are categorized in terms of the type of innovation (product and process) and its degree of novelty (incremental and radical). Crossing these decisions we identify four innovation strategies: product development; learning by experience; discovery; and restructuring. In our integrative view of technological innovation and firm growth, we propose that each of the four innovation strategies develop over the firm’s growth stages (start-up, expansion, maturity, diversification, and exit), therefore making a conceptual contribution to our knowledge on innovation strategy. We concluded by suggesting further research on this topic.
Eiriz, Vasco; Faria, Ana; Barbosa, Natália (2013). Firm growth and innovation: Towards a typology of innovation strategy. Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice 15(1): 97-111.
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