Thomas Hoholm

Palgrave Macmillan

Praktisk Økonomi & Finans 34 [i.e. 35](1) s. 32-46 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-2871-2018-01-04

Controversies in Healthcare Innovation. Service, Technology and Organization s. 341-368 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55780-3_13

In Chapter 13, Hoholm et al. discuss controversies in the healthcare sector by studying the nature of innovation projects at the Clinic of Innovation at Oslo University Hospital and its efforts to improve organizational ambidexterity in the area of service innovation. This includes more room for exploration, and improving their capacity to translate and exploit service innovations in use. Using the notions of ‘exploration’ and ‘exploitation’ (March, Organization Science 2:71–87,1991) the authors show how successful innovation requires two different organizational capacities and discuss how a complex knowledge organization like a hospital may increase its ability to handle both, often referred to as ‘organizational ambidexterity’ (Junni et al., The Academy of Management Perspectives 27:299–312, 2013). The authors propose three conditions for driving ambidexterity: organizational responsibilities and roles, provisional evaluation methods, and systematic cross-case learning.

Controversies in Healthcare Innovation. Service, Technology and Organization s. 161-184 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55780-3_7

Industrial Marketing Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.04.006

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of boundary objects in interaction processes within business networks. From a single case study in the grocery retail industry, we find that such objects are used within interaction processes for collaboration, but are also used extensively for handling conflict, facilitating economic negotiations, and power execution. As such, network-level boundary objects do not require broad consensus by all the involved actors, but instead narrow consensus in a particular interaction process.

BMC Health Services Research 17(149) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2096-4

Background In Norway, a government reform has recently been introduced to enhance coordination between primary and secondary care. This paper examines the effects of two newly introduced measures to improve the coordination: an ICT-based communication tool/standard and an economic incentive scheme. Method This qualitative study is based primarily on 27 open-ended interviews. We interviewed nine employees at a hospital (the focal actor), 17 employees from seven different municipalities, and a representative of a Regional Health Authority. Results ICT-based communication is perceived to facilitate information exchange between primary and secondary care, thus positively affecting coordination. However, the economic incentive scheme appears to have the opposite effect by creating tensions between the two organizations and accentuating power asymmetry in favor of secondary care. Conclusions The inter-organizational nature of coordination in health care makes it crucial for policymakers and management of care organizations to conceive incentives and instruments that work jointly across organizations rather than at only one of the health care organizations involved. Such an approach is likely to favor a more symmetrical pattern of collaboration between primary and secondary care.

The IMP Journal 11(2) s. 178-206 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMP-09-2015-0057

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a longitudinal case study of a regional innovation policy initiative, in which ideas with regard to how innovation might be facilitated were changing over time. Through the scrutiny of insights in industrial network studies (IMP), the authors seek to shed light on the challenges created by policy interventions aimed at constructing complementary networks for the facilitation of innovation. That is to say, the authors endeavour to understand the interfaces between innovation networks and industrial networks, and the way in which they may influence innovation. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a longitudinal case study of four successive regional innovation projects in Norway. Data are drawn from relevant policy documents and project documentations, as well as from participatory observation of application processes and project activities. Findings: This study shows that regional innovation policy concerns first and foremost the interaction within and between relatively established diverse networks, which affects both structuring and restructuring. Changes in innovation policy required the re-configuring of constellations of business networks, research networks and policy networks. All initiatives required mobilisation input by persistent actors – often boundary organisations or researchers. The construction of innovation networks served as an instrument in the production of new interfaces between businesses, researchers and policy makers. The use and usefulness of these networks as perceived by the business actors were heavily influenced by the way in which the networks were configured. Research limitations/implications: Generalisation based on in-depth qualitative case research requires further testing across similar and varying cases, and there have hitherto been relatively few studies of the interfaces between industrial and innovation networks. Despite this it can be argued that the conceptual distinction between constructed and emerging networks is a productive one in the study of networked innovation dynamics. During the research into this longitudinal case, it has been interesting to observe the way in which innovation research, and thus its influence on innovation policy, has changed over time. It would be beneficial if further studies were to be conducted on the way in which this has played out. Practical implications: The administration of the public funding of innovation network activities requires great care. Where innovation policy initiatives are closely related to established industrial networks, it may be possible to strengthen innovation dynamics, challenge established practices and conceptions, and contribute to expanding, or even initiate innovation activities. In the first place, new activities need to be initiated in a way that supports the long-term development of actual business networks; and second, innovation policy bodies should be prepared to stimulate activity over longer periods of time. Originality/value:This paper engages in, and combines, two parallel and rarely interacting debates on, respectively, innovation within innovation policy (innovation systems, clusters, networks) and industrial network studies (IMP and others). The authors make an “ideal type” distinction between alternative “constructed” networks and “emerging” networks, and the way in which they influence innovations.

Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation (JEMI) 13(1) s. 89-116 Doi: https://doi.org/10.7341/20171314

In this explorative study, we investigate the relationship between dynamic capabilities and innovation capabilities. Dynamic capabilities are at the core of strategic management in terms of how firms can ensure adaptation to changing environments over time. Our paper follows two paths of argumentation. First, we review and discuss some major contributions to the theories on ordinary capabilities, dynamic capabilities, and innovation capabilities. We seek to identify different understandings of the concepts in question, in order to clarify the distinctions and relationships between dynamic capabilities and innovation capabilities. Second, we present a case study of the ’Innovation Clinic’ at a major university hospital, including four innovation projects. We use this case study to explore and discuss how dynamic capabilities can be extended, as well as to what extent innovation capabilities can be said to be dynamic. In our conclusion, we discuss the conditions for nurturing ‘dynamic innovation capabilities’ in organizations.

No Business is an Island: Making Sense of the Interactive Business World s. 105-121 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-549-820171006

Industrial Marketing Management 60 s. 187-195 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.04.002

Research on customer–supplier relationships in business markets has evidenced the centrality of interaction processes. However, while several studies examine interaction processes and their consequences in relation to the resource and activity layers of business relationships, the actor layer has not attracted the same attention. This raises the question: how adequate are our methodological approaches for investigating interaction processes in business networks? In this paper, we examine how practice-based approaches, with their preference for ethnography and techniques such as multi-site observations and analytical interviewing and treating actors as emergent entities, can help orient the research on business interaction. We argue that some of the themes emerging in practice-based approaches, applied to studies of interaction in business networks, could yield a better understanding of the dynamics of organizing across organizational boundaries. We conclude that research on interaction in business relationships would benefit from (1) zooming in and zooming out of multiple sites of interaction to better understand interaction processes and the role of controversies and interdependences among the different interacting roles; (2) including fluid multiple roles in business relationships that treat actors as emergent entities and transcend the ‘fixed’ conceptualization of two actor levels – individual and organizational; and (3) paying major attention to the reproduction of interaction practices and the role of materiality that permit relationships to be temporarily stabilized.

Starting Up in Business Networks Why Relationships Matter in Entrepreneurship s. 107-136 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52719-6_5

Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations s. 258-269

Journal of International Entrepreneurship 14(3) s. 285-295 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-016-0188-6

Capitalizing on creativity at work: Fostering the implementation of creative ideas in organizations s. 270-286 Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783476503

The IMP Journal 9(2) s. 117-135 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IMP-03-2015-0011

Abstract Purpose: This paper develops the case for studying non-interaction in networks, particularly instances of intentional avoidance of interaction. Design: The paper is based on the analysis of instances of interaction avoidance across four case studies in medical technology development, food product development, food distribution network change, and regional innovation in construction. Findings: Some answers are provided to the questions of why and how actors may seek to avoid interaction. Five modes of interaction avoidance are identified and outlined. Within these modes, interaction avoidance took place in order to protect knowledge, enforce progress, economise in business networks, avoid wasting resources, and maintain opportunities respectively. This list is not seen to be exhaustive of the theme, and further studies are encouraged. Originality: Few inter-organizational network studies have dealt explicitly with interaction avoidance or non-interaction.

The IMP Journal 8(1) s. 1-12

Journal of Business Research 67(12) s. 2579-2589 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.03.017

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamics of networked power in a concentrated business network. Power is a long standing theme in inter-organizational research, yet there is a paucity of studies about how power emerges and is constructed over time at the network level. The paper adopts process, systems and network theory to interpret a rich single case study from the food industry. Three power mechanisms are identified, gatekeeping, decoupling and resource allocation, which form the basis of a model of networked power dynamics. Empirically tracing the dynamics of networked power highlights the economic contents of interactions. The paper extends current understandings of power as ‘conflict and coercion’ to include influencing, leveraging and strategic maneuvering in the actual performance of networked power.

Samhandling for helse: Kunnskap, kommunikasjon og teknologi i helsetjenesten s. 258-279

Industrial Marketing Management 41(2) s. 344-356 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2012.01.013

In this paper, we argue that industrial innovation processes can productively be analyzed as consisting of two sub-processes that over time create and mobilize contrary forces within both internal and external interactions of the innovation project. One of these forces emerges from the process of mobilizing resources, activities, and actors in ensuring commitments to the project over time. The other is the process of explorative learning, which continues to create revised or even new propositions about the realities of the project and its opportunities. We argue that this analytical distinction permits us to expand our understanding of how friction forces develop over time in business networks (Håkansson & Waluszewski, 2001ab), the patterns of divergence and convergence in innovation processes as identified by Van de Ven et al. (1999) and the processes of “path creation through mindful deviation” as argued by Garud and Karnøe (2001).

Human Relations 65(2) s. 263-288 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711429192

This article contributes to our understanding of practices in innovating organizations. Previous studies have demonstrated how breakthroughs in knowledge may fail to be translated into practices if they are not aligned with existing practices, or if they cut across established boundaries and power structures. By drawing upon an ethnographic study of a medical R&D department that has been highly successful in developing new medical practices, this article investigates how such challenges can be overcome. To date, much of the literature has focused on coordination across single, well-defined boundaries. We here extend this focus and introduce the notion of ‘boundary organizing’ to analyse highly political and contingent processes of innovation and change within and across different practices. We add to existing literature by highlighting how the handling of multiple boundaries, the indirect effects of boundary work, the negotiation of mutual benefits and interests, and mutual adaptation are key aspects of boundary organizing.

The IMP Journal 6(3) s. 254-266

Palgrave Macmillan

European Journal of Innovation Management 14(3) s. 345-363 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/14601061111148834

Purpose – Current research focus on the interaction between innovation and strategy process, but less is known about how identity influences innovation and the formation of strategy. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the relationship between organizational identities and innovation with regards to strategy. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based upon the current research stream on innovation and strategy process. The study is based on a longitudinal case study of strategy and innovation processes in a small Norwegian food producer. Through analyzing two different innovation and product development processes in a Norwegian food producer, one related to creative recombination and the other to reproduction of established practice, we illustrate how organizational identities influence sensemaking during strategy processes, and thus the inclusion of innovation in the strategy. Findings - Identity can be used as an explanation for why some actions are deemed to be strategic while others are not, hence enforcing or limiting innovation. We find that identity needs to be considered both as a ‘soft’ and a ‘hard’ concept in the process; providing stability while at the same time being up for re-negotiation. By understanding strategizing and innovating as situated and heterogeneous processes, we identify how identity becomes a stabilizer and an organizer during emergent strategy processes, and reveal tensions between creative recombination and conservative reproduction. Orginality/ value – This paper provides a richer understanding of innovation and strategy formation by suggesting that construction of organizational identity is central to the strategy process.

Industrial Marketing Management 40(6) s. 933-939 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2011.06.036

This paper discusses the promises and challenges of innovation ethnographies. We depart from the notion that innovation processes are highly contingent, messy and non-linear and examine ways in which these processes have been studied. Our focus is on the challenges posed by the use of ethnographic methods to study innovation in-the-making. Our discussion is illustrated by an example culled from a longitudinal, real-time study of an innovation process in the food industry, inspired by actor-network theory (ANT) and its injunctions to focus on controversies and follow the actors. We conclude that although innovation ethnographies pose plenty of theoretical, methodological and practical challenges, they remain a promising and powerful method to map out the complex and tortuous paths of these processes.

Management Learning 41(5) s. 575-592 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507610374552

Wise, E. and Høgenhaven, C. (eds) User-Driven Innovation: Context and Cases in the Nordic Region

Magma forskning og viten 11(5) s. 25-40

Innovasjonsprosesser. Om innovasjoners odyssé. Hernes,og Koefoed (red) s. 109-124

European Journal of Innovation Management 9(4) s. 444-465