‘Managing’ Non-linear Projects

It is increasingly recognized that innovation processes, especially in relation to the development of technologies that are radical or disruptive, do not follow the often-assumed linear progress – from basic science to applied research through development to commercialization. Instead, these kinds of innovation processes are better characterized as ‘interactive’ or ‘networked’ (Rothwell, 1994; Coombs et al, 2003). This recognizes that the locus of innovation resides in ‘the network of inter-organizational relationships that sustain a fluid and evolving community’ (Powell et al. 1996). Moreover, the notion of interactivity also recognizes that the temporal features of innovation cannot be predicted in advance because how the knowledge evolves is inherently indeterminate and political (Tsoukas, 1996, Swan and Scarbrough, 2005). Assumptions of space and time are, therefore, radically different in relation to interactive (as opposed to linear) innovation processes.