Tracking and accelerating innovation at the early stages of development : Praxeological perspective on exploratory projects: Case study of an OEM

Sammanfattning: This master thesis aims to enhance the understanding of innovation processes at the early stages of development and grant praxeological perspective on exploratory projects. Firstly, it provides a bibliographic overview of the previously conducted research within the Innovation Studies field. It discusses innovation systems, institutions and networks, examines the linkage between innovation and knowledge and defines the specificities of the Natural Resource-Based Industries, which constitutes the context of the present study. Then, an analysis on the most popular, within academia and industry, innovation tracking methodologies, their strengths and weaknesses is carried out. The output seeks to contribute with knowledge and assess the available systems. The thesis is anchored in an embedded case study at an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of heavy machinery for NRBIs and aims to identify the company’s challenges and activities in relation to innovation, as well as possible correlation between them. For this purpose, the research bridges theoretical models on exploratory projects, ambidexterity, Design Thinking (DT) and conceptualization of entrepreneurial management. Findings show that (i) Stevenson’s model of conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Management can be adapted and applied effectively to Innovation Management, (ii) the relationship between exploratory and New Product Development (NPD) projects is more of a parallel, interdependent and overlapping nature rather than linear and sequential and (iii) there is a linkage between the identified challenges and activities. The latter shall (a) serve as a starting point for scholars to carry out further research in the field of Innovation Studies and (b) navigate practitioners through tracking and accelerating innovation at the early stages of development.