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Publications
  • July–September 2024
  • Article
  • Journal of Engineering and Technology Management

Psychological Ownership for Overcoming Departmental Barriers to Innovation: A Study of Innovation Handoffs

By: Alf Steinar Sætre, Amy C. Edmondson, Oda Dregelid and Sofie Rud Zimmer
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:14
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Abstract

Effective collaboration across departments in an organization is critical to innovation success. Our purpose was to investigate factors contributing to successful innovation involving multiple organizational departments. We employed a multiple-case design with three Norwegian companies in three industries, by examining what happens at innovation project handoffs between different departments in an organization. We found that shared psychological ownership of innovation projects enabled efficient handoffs and helped manage the challenges of working across organizational boundaries. Our analysis identified a variety of enablers, which were consistent across industries, to improve innovation project handoffs and create shared psychological ownership.

Keywords

Psychological Ownership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Management; Groups and Teams; Organizational Design

Citation

Sætre, Alf Steinar, Amy C. Edmondson, Oda Dregelid, and Sofie Rud Zimmer. "Psychological Ownership for Overcoming Departmental Barriers to Innovation: A Study of Innovation Handoffs." Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 73 (July–September 2024).
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About The Author

Amy C. Edmondson

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Daiichi Sankyo: Steering a Global Organization By: Tiona Zuzul, Amy C. Edmondson and Cat Huang
  • Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (B) By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples
  • Responsive Working at PepsiCo UK (C) By: Amy C. Edmondson and Nancy Boghossian Staples
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