Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Employee-driven innovation (EDI) is widely recognized as a promising approach for leveraging employees’ ideas for organizational innovation. Yet, prior research has predominantly focused on ideation while literature on examining how employee-generated digital ideas are realized is scarce. Existing studies often emphasize self-service-oriented approaches (e.g., citizen development or generative AI) as means to bridge the idea-to-implementation gap, but these often reach their limits in complex organizational IT environments. This gap is particularly salient in the context of digital innovation, where implementation frequently requires technical expertise, system integration, and alignment with organizational governance. Therefore, this study investigates how a digital innovation unit (DIU) can support EDI and where boundaries are set. Drawing on a case study, the analysis is based on ten interviews with employee ideators and DIU members in an incumbent organization. The findings identify organizational mechanisms and boundary conditions through which DIUs can complement EDI beyond the limits of self-service.
Paper Number
1829
Recommended Citation
Leible, Stephan; Simic, Dejan; Hadler, Tim; Kučević, Emir; and Raabe, Jun-Patrick, "Addressing the Idea-to-Implementation Gap in Employee-Driven Digital Innovation: The Role of Digital Innovation Units" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/agile/agile/6
Addressing the Idea-to-Implementation Gap in Employee-Driven Digital Innovation: The Role of Digital Innovation Units
Employee-driven innovation (EDI) is widely recognized as a promising approach for leveraging employees’ ideas for organizational innovation. Yet, prior research has predominantly focused on ideation while literature on examining how employee-generated digital ideas are realized is scarce. Existing studies often emphasize self-service-oriented approaches (e.g., citizen development or generative AI) as means to bridge the idea-to-implementation gap, but these often reach their limits in complex organizational IT environments. This gap is particularly salient in the context of digital innovation, where implementation frequently requires technical expertise, system integration, and alignment with organizational governance. Therefore, this study investigates how a digital innovation unit (DIU) can support EDI and where boundaries are set. Drawing on a case study, the analysis is based on ten interviews with employee ideators and DIU members in an incumbent organization. The findings identify organizational mechanisms and boundary conditions through which DIUs can complement EDI beyond the limits of self-service.
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