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Making Decisions on Innovation: Meetings or Networks?

John K. Christiansen, Claus J. Varnes · 2007 · Creativity and Innovation Management

Summary. This paper challenges the traditional view that innovation decisions happen in formal gate and portfolio meetings. Through two case studies, the authors show that actual decision-making occurs through informal networks of negotiations and micro-decisions among project managers, team members, and other actors. Official meetings function as checkpoints where approvals are sought rather than decisions made. Mandatory templates and documents serve as boundary objects that create new control points in the innovation process.

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Christiansen, J. K., & Varnes, C. J.. (2007). Making Decisions on Innovation: Meetings or Networks?. Creativity and Innovation Management. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8691.2007.00441.x

Details

DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8691.2007.00441.x
Countries
Denmark
Regions
Europe
Categories
innovation-theory, innovation-networks, general-innovation
Added
2026-04-28