Conceptualizing Strategic Innovation in a Firm Context: A Theoretical Review and Research Agenda

The literature on strategic management recognizes the pivotal role played by strategic innovation as a strategic choice in organizations in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage. However, although there are emerging calls for the adoption of strategic innovation in a firm’s strategic management process, the concept of strategic innovation is not well understood. The scanty empirical literature reviewed has methodological and conceptual gaps that affect the generalizability of findings even in similar contexts. In this paper, the authors have attempted to review Strategic Innovation and argued that the emerging phenomena from its deployment in firms invite the role of the firm structure and innovative capacity as the firm seeks to enhance its chances of survival in a rapidly changing firm context. The conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature reviewed identified diverse issues that present a case for a theoretical model suitable to advance the current understanding of strategic innovation and the emerging phenomenon in firms. This paper therefore proposes an integrated theoretical model conceptualizing strategic innovation in a firm context and identifies relevant implications for future research.