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Publications
  • 2015
  • Chapter
  • The Oxford Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Institutional Innovation: Novel, Useful, and Legitimate

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Mary Ann Glynn
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

This chapter advances the theoretical construct of institutional innovation, which we define as novel, useful and legitimate change that disrupts, to varying degrees, the cognitive, normative, or regulative mainstays of an organizational field. Institutional innovation, like all innovation, is both novel and useful, but differs in that it is also legitimate, credible and appropriate. Legitimacy is hinged to four characteristics such that institutional innovation is theorized to be: 1) normative or value-laden; 2) progressing in bursts of change over time; 3) socially constructed and culturally embedded; and 4) associated with logics that shape practices. We develop a framework, outlining the definition, composition, and processual nature of institutional innovation, as well as its generative potency. Finally, implications for theory, practice, and future research are offered.

Citation

Raffaelli, Ryan, and Mary Ann Glynn. "Institutional Innovation: Novel, Useful, and Legitimate." In The Oxford Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, edited by Christina E. Shalley, Michael A. Hitt, and Jing Zhou. Oxford University Press, 2015.
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About The Author

Ryan L. Raffaelli

Organizational Behavior
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  • Outcome and Process Frames: Strategic Renewal and Capability Reprioritization at the Federal Bureau of Investigation By: Ryan Raffaelli, Tiona Zuzul, Ranjay Gulati and Jan Rivkin
  • Moleskine: Daniela Riccardi Turns the Page By: Ryan Raffaelli
  • Kwame Spearman at Tattered Cover: Reinventing Brick-and-Mortar Retail By: Ryan Raffaelli
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