Is slack good or bad for innovation?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Nohria, N; Gulati, R
• 署名单位: Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/256998
• 发表日期: 1996
• 页码: 1245-1264
• 关键词: MULTINATIONAL-CORPORATIONS; AGENCY COSTS; risk-taking; adoption; performance; MODEL; BEHAVIOR; firm

摘要

This article suggests that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between slack and innovation in organizations: both too much and too little slack may be detrimental to innovation. Two related mechanisms governing this relationship are proposed: Slack fosters greater experimentation but also diminishing discipline over innovative projects, resulting in the hypothesized curvilinear relationship. Comprehensive worldwide data on 264 functional departments of two multinational corporations support the prediction.