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Towards retail innovation and ambidexterity : insights from a Swedish retailer

Batingan Paredes, Karla Marie LU orcid ; Olander Roese, Malin LU and Johansson, Ulf LU (2023) In International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 511(13). p.1-15
Abstract
Purpose
Incumbent retail organisations need to develop new capabilities to adapt with the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Despite the growing relevance of innovation in retail practice, the strategic management of innovation in retailing is still vastly under-researched. This explorative study thus aims to investigate how incumbent retail firms can organise for innovation from an organisational ambidexterity perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
A single-case study of an established Swedish retail firm was conducted from December 2016 to July 2018 and followed up in June 2021. The authors followed the process of implementation of organisational changes aimed to increase innovation in the company, particularly... (More)
Purpose
Incumbent retail organisations need to develop new capabilities to adapt with the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Despite the growing relevance of innovation in retail practice, the strategic management of innovation in retailing is still vastly under-researched. This explorative study thus aims to investigate how incumbent retail firms can organise for innovation from an organisational ambidexterity perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
A single-case study of an established Swedish retail firm was conducted from December 2016 to July 2018 and followed up in June 2021. The authors followed the process of implementation of organisational changes aimed to increase innovation in the company, particularly the introduction of a digital marketing initiative and a corporate innovation hub. Data collection was based on nine semi-structured interviews and participant observations and unstructured interviews from 13 meetings and workshops. An abductive approach to data analysis was followed, iteratively comparing theoretical concepts and empirical data using open, axial and selective coding to distil findings into aggregated themes.

Findings
Given the inherently limited formalisation of innovation processes in most retail organisations, structural ambidexterity appears to be necessary when the aim is radical, strategic retail innovation. Structural mechanisms are able to safeguard the space and resources to focus on long-term research and projects with higher risk and uncertainty; however, integration of innovation activities to the mainstream organisation is critical. Pursuing contextual ambidexterity, wherein instead of structural solutions, employees are empowered to divide employees' time between innovation-related and efficiency-related tasks, is more likely related to retail innovations that are incremental and operational.

Originality/value
The paper contributes to the emerging topic of strategic management of innovation in retailing, by explicating how incumbent retailers can organise for innovation depending on the type of innovation that is aimed for, using organisational ambidexterity as a novel perspective.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Retail innovation, Innovation management, Organisational ambidexterity
in
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management
volume
511
issue
13
pages
1 - 15
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:85147309257
ISSN
0959-0552
DOI
10.1108/IJRDM-03-2022-0094
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
69373f12-a4f6-4dee-b99c-02f9a41438ed
date added to LUP
2023-02-22 11:56:03
date last changed
2024-02-07 13:06:23
@article{69373f12-a4f6-4dee-b99c-02f9a41438ed,
  abstract     = {{Purpose<br/>Incumbent retail organisations need to develop new capabilities to adapt with the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Despite the growing relevance of innovation in retail practice, the strategic management of innovation in retailing is still vastly under-researched. This explorative study thus aims to investigate how incumbent retail firms can organise for innovation from an organisational ambidexterity perspective.<br/><br/>Design/methodology/approach<br/>A single-case study of an established Swedish retail firm was conducted from December 2016 to July 2018 and followed up in June 2021. The authors followed the process of implementation of organisational changes aimed to increase innovation in the company, particularly the introduction of a digital marketing initiative and a corporate innovation hub. Data collection was based on nine semi-structured interviews and participant observations and unstructured interviews from 13 meetings and workshops. An abductive approach to data analysis was followed, iteratively comparing theoretical concepts and empirical data using open, axial and selective coding to distil findings into aggregated themes.<br/><br/>Findings<br/>Given the inherently limited formalisation of innovation processes in most retail organisations, structural ambidexterity appears to be necessary when the aim is radical, strategic retail innovation. Structural mechanisms are able to safeguard the space and resources to focus on long-term research and projects with higher risk and uncertainty; however, integration of innovation activities to the mainstream organisation is critical. Pursuing contextual ambidexterity, wherein instead of structural solutions, employees are empowered to divide employees' time between innovation-related and efficiency-related tasks, is more likely related to retail innovations that are incremental and operational.<br/><br/>Originality/value<br/>The paper contributes to the emerging topic of strategic management of innovation in retailing, by explicating how incumbent retailers can organise for innovation depending on the type of innovation that is aimed for, using organisational ambidexterity as a novel perspective.<br/><br/>}},
  author       = {{Batingan Paredes, Karla Marie and Olander Roese, Malin and Johansson, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{0959-0552}},
  keywords     = {{Retail innovation; Innovation management; Organisational ambidexterity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{13}},
  pages        = {{1--15}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management}},
  title        = {{Towards retail innovation and ambidexterity : insights from a Swedish retailer}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-03-2022-0094}},
  doi          = {{10.1108/IJRDM-03-2022-0094}},
  volume       = {{511}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}