The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics
Summary. This paper applies memetics theory to explain how management innovations spread through organizations as evolutionary processes. Using case studies of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) implementation, the author shows that innovations replicate, mutate, and get selected in ways that function like evolutionary algorithms. The analysis reveals how innovations drive their own replication and why high failure rates in BPR can paradoxically increase the innovation's chances of spreading.
Cite this article
O’Mahoney, J.. (2007). The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x
O’Mahoney, Joseph. “The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics.” Journal of Management Studies, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x.
O’Mahoney, Joseph. 2007. “The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics.” Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x.
@article{o-mahoney-2007-diffusion-management-innovations-possibilities-limitations,
title = {The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics},
author = {Joseph O’Mahoney},
journal = {Journal of Management Studies},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x}
}
TY - JOUR TI - The Diffusion of Management Innovations: The Possibilities and Limitations of Memetics AU - Joseph O’Mahoney JO - Journal of Management Studies PY - 2007 DO - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x ER -
Details
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00734.x
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Regions
- Europe
- Categories
- innovation-theory, innovation-networks, general-innovation
- Added
- 2026-04-28