Gatekeeper and process promotor: key persons in agile and innovative organizations

A characteristic of agile organizations is the development of innovative products and processes. It has been shown that a key factor of success in managing innovative projects is the existence of key persons. Empirical studies on innovation management show that key persons who are able to overcome existing innovation barriers play a decisive role for innovation success. The basic theoretical concepts behind these findings are the “gatekeeper concept” and the “promotor model”. The two concepts are compared under a static and a dynamic perspective. It will be shown that under a dynamic view, one can combine the gatekeeper concept and the promotor model to a powerful management concept for supporting agility in organizations.