The determinants for organizational innovation: A systematic multilevel literature review

De Kort, Charlotte [UCL] Gailly, Benoît [UCL] de Viron, Françoise [UCL]

It has been argued that organizations that are better capable of innovating create a competitive advantage over the others (Zander and Kogut, 1995). Extensive literature has indicated the link between organizational innovation (the adoption of innovations by an organization including the generation, development and implementation of new ideas) and firm performance. Over the years, multiple determinants were discussed influencing organizational innovation. However, there is a lack of recent meta analyses and reviews capturing those determinants at different levels of analysis. This paper presents a 10-year systematic literature review regarding the determinants for organizational innovation, updating a review completed by Crossan and Apaydin (2010). Reviewing articles from 2007 to 2016, we propose a synthesis of the literature along two frameworks. The first framework is an extension and update of Crossan and Apaydin’s paper, identifying the various theories used to discuss organizational innovation by level of analysis. The second framework provides a multi-level perspective and categorizes the determinants across levels of analysis, using a typology derived from Adams et al. (2006). Our review identifies a strong movement towards multi-level analyses. Specifically, we found the focus of the determinants for organizational innovation to be on: transformational leadership, geographical proximity, collaboration with others, government funding, knowledge flows, cultural distance and cultural difference. Furthermore we saw a shift in focus regarding the structural and cultural determinants for organizational innovation. Whilst structural determinants were studied at the firm level in the past, recently researchers focus more on the individual level and network level. Regarding culture we found a shift from the firm-and individual level towards a focus on the network level. The paper further stresses gaps in organizational innovation research (e.g. the lack of studies on mission and strategy) and proposes propositions for future research on organizational innovation. Implementations for practitioners are also developed.