Diffusion of Organisational Innovations: Quality Management in Sweden

Two recent developments in innovation research constitute the basis of the broader research area of which this paper is part: the increasing interest in organisational innovations (OI) and the conceptualisation of innovation systems (IS). In Alänge and Lundgren (2000), a theoretical framework for studying the diffusion of OI is developed. The main purpose of this paper is to apply the framework in an empirical setting to an investigation of the development and diffusion over time of quality management (QM) in Sweden. It has been recognised that there is a lack of empirical research and knowledge on QM in national contexts; thus, the attempt to do so in this paper may be an interesting contribution in itself. A second objective of this paper is to address the issue of how the dynamic aspects of innovation and diffusion may be captured and represented when using a system perspective. Few current versions of the IS approach are able to analyse the mechanisms of change and evolution and depicting the dynamic properties of the system. The main conclusion is that the framework is well suited as a structuring frame of reference for use when empirically addressing cases of OI diffusion, thereby contributing to the overall research aim of obtaining a better understanding of the OI diffusion phenomenon.