Interconnectivity between Success Factors in the Front End of Innovation

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to answer the question how the interconnection of two success factors contribute to the individual elements of the Front End of Innovation, as identified by Koen et al. (2001). The distinguished success factors are; the integration of marketing & sales and research & development, and customer involvement (Florén et al. 2018). To get a thorough understanding of the concepts ‘Front End of Innovation’, ‘Integration of marketing & sales and research & development, and ‘customer involvement’ a literature review was performed. By conducting a qualitative, single case study, data was obtained via semi-structured interviews to get an understanding of the topic. Thereafter, the data was analysed using the Grounded Theory Model of Gioia, Corley and Hamilton (2012), whereby the data was deductively classified according to the different elements of the Front End of Innovation, and within the elements the data was inductively analysed. This resulted in a Grounded Theory Model that displays the main facilitators that lead to a successful contribution of the interconnection between integration of marketing & sales and research & development and customer involvement to every element of the Front End of Innovation. Furthermore, influencers are identified within the integration of marketing & sales and research & development, and between the cross-functional team and the customer that positively or negatively impact the facilitator. The facilitators show the importance of a mutual contribution of the customer and the cross-functional team to the Front End of Innovation elements. This research contributes to closing the knowledge gap in the Front End of Innovation literature, by clarifying the contribution of the interconnection between two distinguished success factors to the individual elements of the Front end of Innovation. Additionally, it will deliver valuable suggestion for companies to successfully manage the Front End of Innovation.