Responsible Innovation Orientation: A Dynamic Capability for Commercialization of Emerging Technologies

Academic Summary Despite growing attention to responsible innovation, extant research offers limited guidance for how firms should organize to ensure responsibility during emerging technology (ET) commercialization, a process for which the societal consequences reflect both market pressures and uncertainty. This research introduces Responsible Innovation Orientation (RIO), a firm‐level strategic orientation, as a higher‐order dynamic capability that shapes how firms embed responsibility into their ET commercialization. Drawing on 50 in‐depth interviews with managers across 17 relevant organizations, supplemented by a systematic literature review the authors identify four interdependent organizational microfoundations that constitute RIO: anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion, and responsiveness (ARIR). Firms can implement these competencies through organizational practices that support forward‐looking consequence exploration, reflexive values alignment, strategic stakeholder engagement, and adaptive adjustment during commercialization. Organizational culture, and specifically leadership commitment, psychological safety, shared learning, and purpose‐driven values, represent contextual antecedents that condition the mobilization of ARIR competencies. By conceptualizing RIO as a dynamic capability, this research extends responsible innovation scholarship and innovation management theory, advancing understanding of how firms govern responsibility in market‐facing commercialization contexts. Managerial Summary Commercializing emerging technologies is an inherently uncertain task. Markets move fast, societal consequences are hard to predict, and stakeholder expectations shift. Firms also navigate such scenarios under pressure, often without any clear organizational framework for managing responsibility as part of their commercialization process. But with a strategic approach called Responsible Innovation Orientation, firms can embed responsibility into how they bring emerging technologies to market. Interviews with managers across 17 organizations reveal four main competencies that firms need to develop: anticipating the broader consequences of an innovation before problems arise; reflecting on whether the firm's values remain aligned with its innovation activities; engaging meaningfully with stakeholders throughout the commercialization process; and adapting to unexpected consequences. These competencies do not function in isolation. Leadership commitment, psychological safety, shared learning, and purpose‐driven values are organizational prerequisites that enable firms to embed responsible innovation practices. In turn, this article offers a practical framework for treating responsibility as a strategic priority rather than a compliance exercise. Firms that develop these capabilities are better positioned to manage risk, maintain stakeholder trust, and create value that persists over time.