A discourse analysis of innovation in academic management literature

Abstract

The chapter explores the academic management discourse of innovation in high impact articles. Innovation is approached as a discursive terrain where discourses compete to ascribe meanings to innovation. The study shows that innovation is mainly constructed as a positive concept in management literature and the chapter broadens the scope by analysing and problematizing the academic management discourse of innovation. More specifically, the analysis shows that management research of innovation is self-referential; it primarily focuses on benefits for the innovating organization by promoting accelerated innovation, effective self-preservation practices and a faith in the good result of innovation. What is constructed here is a potential self-reinforcing circle driving organizations to innovate faster and faster. The authors argue that research needs to acknowledge and explore what innovation leads to beyond the immediate economic interests of organizations. This would help scholars to identify blind spots, and to invite research which rejects the pro-innovation bias in order to extend research agendas to also include undesirable effects of innovation and possibilities to reduce them.