Expanding innovation system and policy – an organisational perspective

Abstract

Studies of innovation systems and policies have tended to focus on scientific and technological innovation; organisational innovations continue to receive scant attention in many countries. The purpose of this article is to study the front-runner countries in organisational innovation activities, in this case Germany, Norway, Sweden and Finland, as well as the ways in which they have integrated organisational innovations as a part of broader innovation policies. The evaluation framework consists of four levels: (1) governmental and strategic level; (2) ministerial level; (3) research and development (R&D) programme level; and (4) performance level. This article discusses innovation systems’ similarities and differences from the organisational innovation point of view and suggests future recommendations for policy-makers. Although the results show that the countries studied support organisational innovation R&D projects and programmes, only Finland and Sweden have been able to create broad-based innovation strategies at the governmental level that include organisational innovation. Even so, a stronger political commitment is needed to foster a comprehensive approach to innovation and support the legitimacy of organisational innovation. In the future, it will be necessary to systematically embed an organisational innovation perspective into innovation systems throughout the governmental, ministerial, R&D programme and performance levels. To enhance learning concerning innovation activities in Europe, a concrete tool for a joint learning platform in the field of innovation activities is also presented.

Keywords:

• innovation policy
• innovation system
• organisational innovation
• innovation infrastructure

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Claudio Zettel, Claudius Riegler, Friedhelm Keuken, Marianne Döös, Pär Larsson and Tuomo Alasoini for their valuable comments on the earlier versions of this article.