Location
Online
Event Website
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/
Start Date
3-1-2023 12:00 AM
End Date
7-1-2023 12:00 AM
Description
In digital transformation, incumbents are pressured to exploit their core business and simultaneously explore opportunities for digital innovation. When pursuing ambidexterity, organizations establish digital innovation units (DIUs) dedicated to digital innovation. Due to the novelty of the phenomenon, prior studies targeted DIUs' design, objectives, and challenges. However, their value lies in reintegrating digital innovations back into the operational organization for use and commercialization, which has been neglected so far. Thus, we analyze the reintegration based on a single-embedded case study of four heterogeneous DIUs. We identify three phases of reintegration activities and trace differences to the contextual factors: innovation orientation, number of involved entities, and ownership. Our contribution is twofold. First, we shed light on the reintegration of DIUs' innovation outcomes for the first time. Second, we extend research on digital innovation and ambidexterity by outlining drivers and inhibitors of reintegration, enhancing our understanding of how organizations can exploit exploration.
Recommended Citation
Lohoff, Laura; Schäfer, Moritz; and Hess, Thomas, "Exploiting Exploration: Reintegrating Digital Innovations from Digital Innovation Units" (2023). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2023 (HICSS-56). 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-56/os/innovation/2
Exploiting Exploration: Reintegrating Digital Innovations from Digital Innovation Units
Online
In digital transformation, incumbents are pressured to exploit their core business and simultaneously explore opportunities for digital innovation. When pursuing ambidexterity, organizations establish digital innovation units (DIUs) dedicated to digital innovation. Due to the novelty of the phenomenon, prior studies targeted DIUs' design, objectives, and challenges. However, their value lies in reintegrating digital innovations back into the operational organization for use and commercialization, which has been neglected so far. Thus, we analyze the reintegration based on a single-embedded case study of four heterogeneous DIUs. We identify three phases of reintegration activities and trace differences to the contextual factors: innovation orientation, number of involved entities, and ownership. Our contribution is twofold. First, we shed light on the reintegration of DIUs' innovation outcomes for the first time. Second, we extend research on digital innovation and ambidexterity by outlining drivers and inhibitors of reintegration, enhancing our understanding of how organizations can exploit exploration.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/hicss-56/os/innovation/2