Does strategy formalization foster innovation? Evidence from a French sample of small to medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Despite abundant research, the relationship between strategy formalization and innovation remains unclear. Some acknowledge a positive impact of strategy formalization on innovation while others consider it an impediment to novelty and creation. Going beyond the conflicting views over the influence of formalization, we combine open innovation and socio-material perspectives. This study aims to contribute to the debate by considering the possibility that formalization is a means of benefiting from openness with respect to innovation. Therefore, we predict that formalization might positively moderate the impact of openness on innovation. Relying on a unique sample of 555 SMEs, we investigate the effects of strategy formalization and openness-according to their various facets and interactions-on new product innovation. We find a positive influence of formalization (whether it is approached as a process or as a strategic tool) on product innovation. Our findings also support the idea that formalization increases the effectiveness of openness on innovation performance. Implications are discussed, and future research directions are outlined at the end.

Unpacking Business Model Innovation Through an Attention-Based View

“…In addition, the fact that actors in the field did not mobilize the BM concept raises the question of whether the use of a BM framework (such as Osterwalder and Pigneur's Canvas) would have affected BMI. Other studies show that material and formal aspects are critical for new BM development , and more broadly for strategic innovation (Fréchet & Goy, 2017).…”

Capacités dynamiques et innovation en PME : analyse d’un cas d’échec

“…Les capacités des PME à innover et à valoriser leurs innovations pourraient en être limitées (Hadjimanolis, 1999(Hadjimanolis, , 2000. Au contraire, la formalisation de l'activité permettrait d'améliorer leur processus d'innovation (Fréchet et Goy, 2017 ;Terziovcki, 2010).…”

Les mécanismes du don/contre-don : un chaînon manquant entre la GRH et l’innovation en PME

“…Notons que la stratégie d'innovation des PME peut revêtir deux formes. Un premier ensemble de travaux révèle que les dirigeants, ayant adopté une stratégie d'innovation à la fois formalisée et planifiée, obtiennent de meilleurs résultats (Fréchet et Goy, 2017). Un second ensemble de travaux décrit la stratégie d'innovation des PME comme étant le plus souvent de nature émergente (De Jong et Marsili, 2006).…”

“…Le développement de l'innovation en contexte de PME a suscité l'engouement de nombreux chercheurs (Fréchet et Goy, 2017 ;Pinget, Bocquet et Mothe, 2015). Par ailleurs, le baromètre FNEGE 2015 1 révèle que les dirigeants, sensibles à cette question, semblent attendre des préconisations afin de mieux animer et organiser l'innovation au sein de leur structure.…”