Building a radical innovation capability in established food service companies

Abstract

The market of food services has traditionally been changing rather slowly. In today's unstable environment, however, there is an increasing demand to better understand the management of radical innovation capabilities in the unique circumstances of the business field. The aim of the study was to discover how radical innovation capabilities support established firms to overcome barriers in the food service sector. For the purpose of reaching the aim, three sub-questions were applied: one revealing key radical innovation barriers, one in order to outline capabilities needed to overcome the barriers and finally, one investigating the systemic nature and interrelations of the capabilities.

The questions were addressed by systematically combining empirical interview data to literature on radical innovation barriers and capabilities in established organizations. The interview data was collected from case company informants operating in the field of food services as well as external experts from related business fields. The research applied qualitative research design with open-ended semi-structured questions. The study reveals that the development of radical innovation is difficult largely due to their highly uncertain nature. A framework of radical innovation capabilities was conducted addressing the key barriers identified from the research. The framework of “four pillars of capability” addresses radical innovation in the areas of external linkages, processes, organizational structures, and culture.

The study offers increased theorization and conceptual clarity on capabilities needed to overcome barriers in large incumbents in the field of food services. The empirical data is limited to the case organization’s unique context. Nevertheless, the learnings of this case study are applicable to a wide range of actors working with corporate innovation and business development in the service sector, particularly within food services.