Innovation Factory and Innovation Atelier Business Design for ‘Routinized Innovation’

The paper aims at addressing the challenge how to design the firm’s innovation activities while taking into account requirements stemming from the progressive routinization of innovation, the need for ambidexterity and contingency. The authors adopt a perspective of business design and introduce the complementary concepts of ‘Innovation Factory’ and ‘Innovation Atelier’. In combination with findings from a series of case studies of business design, the approach builds on insights stemming from systems theory, economic theories of growth, process philosophy, theories of business design, and theories of contingency on organization. The authors support their argument with a case study of a Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturer.