An empirical evaluation of innovation types and organizational and environmental characteristics: Towards a configuration framework

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify the antecedents of service, organizational process (organization and marketization), and ancillary innovation types. The drivers of the study are twofold: prior research has not adequately addressed how organizational and environmental antecedents may vary by innovation type, and the impact of complementary relationships between innovation types has not been systematically estimated in public organizations. Data are drawn from a 2-yr multiple informant study of English local authorities. The results of the multivariate analysis show that the antecedents of different innovation types are complex and that complementary relationships between innovation types might not be as widespread as is theorized. Configuration theory is proposed as a framework to move away from examining the myriad of individual variables and toward a consideration of the relationships between antecedents and innovation types. Implications for research and practice are discussed.