Accelerating Innovation through Agility: Transforming a Manufacturer’s Product Innovation Department

In a world typified by uncertainty and unprecedented change, agility is the key theme to innovation and essential for maintaining competitiveness. There is a notable gap between the concepts’ popularity and the understanding of how agile practices influence firms’ innovation processes and output. This study draws on the case of a leading family-owned manufacturing firm in the dental supplier industry transforming their product innovation department by means of agile practices. Building on theoretical concepts of innovation management and agility we study the adoption, use and efficacy of agile practices to facilitate companies’ innovation processes. Our findings highlight the importance of leadership capabilities that encourage individuals’ innovation activities. We found that an organization-specific innovative culture and organizational commitment are vital to facilitating the agile transition. These factors enhance employees’ beliefs and willingness to contribute to the transformation. Additionally, we discuss learnings and insights for managers operating non-software producing areas, searching for approaches to manage complexity and being not naturally firm with agile transitions.