Redefining Innovation Management: the Distributed Innovation System

Abstract

During the last fifteen years, companies have extensively restructured their operations. They have bought and sold business segments to rearrange their portfolio of activities, the rationale being to concentrate resources on those activities in which they considered they had the best chances of winning in the competitive race. Firms have therefore drastically redefined their business perimeter. In some cases, this redefinition has been so radical that it has meant a metamorphosis of the business activities of the firm. In these relatively rare cases, the firm has voluntarily engaged in a relentless transformation of the nature of its business. Examples such as Danone, Nokia and Samsung will be described.