Overcoming the Innovation Barrier: A Search-Selection Model of Breakthrough Innovation in Large Firms

In this chapter we explore mechanisms through which established firms can harness these fundamental enablers through adopting selection regimes that counteract the tendency to stifle or eliminate radical novelty. We begin by providing an overview of the main factors that cause established firms to oppose breakthrough innovation projects. We then conceptualize the generation of breakthrough innovation as a two stage search-selection process. The first stage, search, is aimed at increasing the likelihood of coming across new opportunities by prompting experimentation. The second stage, selection, is aimed at sifting out and supporting the implementation of the most valuable opportunities. Focusing on the selection phase, we propose three types of regime that established firms can adopt to overcome innovation barriers: (1) individual driven, (2) lead user driven and (3) application domain driven. Examples from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and ARM are used to illustrate the effectiveness of these selection regimes