Breeding a Culture of Experience Innovation: A Case Study of Co-Existing Values
Author: Lori J. Sipe
Issue: 2018, Vol. 4
Abstract
In the past decade, consumer spending on experiences relative to material goods has increased dramatically. Despite the vast quantity of innovation literature in business, much of the empirical research focuses on new product development in the manufacturing context. In contrast to the traditional product/service paradigm, innovation in experience firms is collective, incremental, and ongoing. An updated perspective on developing and maintaining organizational capacities for continuous innovation in the experience economy is needed. This study employed an organizational ethnography approach to examine a zoological attraction’s culture through rich description of the firm’s operations at varying levels. Data was collected in three phases and included front of the house and back of the house observations, interviews and conversations with 42 employees and 5 senior managers, attendance at new hire orientation and senior management meetings, and review of internal documents. The summary findings are presented as a case study, providing a rare back of the house view of the workplace practices of an organization that espouses experience innovation as its overriding objective. Important themes are revealed to include coalescing the past, present, and future, balancing cooperation and competition, trust and transparency, and business and emotion. Findings also highlight that in experience-centric organizations, the core experience serves as the lever for innovation activities and design decisions.
Keywords: experience economy, innovation, organizational culture, absorptive capacity, organizational ethnography, purpose driven organization, innovation capacities.
To download the article, please click on the PDF file or read on this page below:
Author: Lori J. Sipe
Issue: 2018, Vol. 4
Abstract
In the past decade, consumer spending on experiences relative to material goods has increased dramatically. Despite the vast quantity of innovation literature in business, much of the empirical research focuses on new product development in the manufacturing context. In contrast to the traditional product/service paradigm, innovation in experience firms is collective, incremental, and ongoing. An updated perspective on developing and maintaining organizational capacities for continuous innovation in the experience economy is needed. This study employed an organizational ethnography approach to examine a zoological attraction’s culture through rich description of the firm’s operations at varying levels. Data was collected in three phases and included front of the house and back of the house observations, interviews and conversations with 42 employees and 5 senior managers, attendance at new hire orientation and senior management meetings, and review of internal documents. The summary findings are presented as a case study, providing a rare back of the house view of the workplace practices of an organization that espouses experience innovation as its overriding objective. Important themes are revealed to include coalescing the past, present, and future, balancing cooperation and competition, trust and transparency, and business and emotion. Findings also highlight that in experience-centric organizations, the core experience serves as the lever for innovation activities and design decisions.
Keywords: experience economy, innovation, organizational culture, absorptive capacity, organizational ethnography, purpose driven organization, innovation capacities.
To download the article, please click on the PDF file or read on this page below:
| Breeding a Culture of Experience Innovation: A Case Study of Co-Existing Values by Lori J. Sipe |
