Intersections in system innovation: a nested-case methodology to study co-evolving innovation journeys

Abstract

Current persistent sustainability challenges are widely understood to require transitions and system innovations. As these systemic changes typically emerge from multiple co-evolving innovations, Schot and Geels [2008. Strategic niche management and sustainable innovation journeys; theory, findings, research agenda, and policy. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management 20, no. 5: 537–54] urge to study the interactions between innovation journeys. Their call for multiplicity has been met through several studies. Yet considering that these analyses still leave the attendant navigational challenges underexposed, this article demonstrates the usefulness of nested-case methodologies. Focusing on the ‘intersections’ between interpenetrating case histories, in-depth investigation is combined with broader attention to next-order changes. The relevance and implications of these intersections are illustrated through four innovation journeys in the Dutch traffic management field: unfolding largely in parallel, but sometimes intersecting, they yield a mixed picture of trajectory formation and fragmentation. The phenomenon of emergent incoherence is identified as a key strategic challenge in system innovation processes.

Keywords:

• system innovation
• co-evolution
• nested cases
• multiplicity
• fragmentation
• traffic management

Notes on contributor

Bonno Pel is a postdoctoral researcher at Erasmus University of Rotterdam, at the Department of Public Administration. Trained in environmental planning as well as social philosophy, his research focuses on the dynamics and governance of system innovation in the making (mainly in the field of transport and mobility). In 2012, he successfully defended a dissertation on system innovation in the Dutch traffic management field.