Reflections on “The Sources of Management Innovation” Mol & Birkinshaw, 2009

In this retrospective, I consider what has driven interest in a previously published article, in relation to more recent developments in the literature on management innovation, the creation, and implementation of new management practices. I suggest that this form of innovation had previously not received enough attention and that the first-time use of both the Community Innovation Survey, as a data source, and the behavioral theory of the firm, to theoretically underpin our understanding of management innovation, created further interest in this work. I then put forward two important recent developments. First, there have been attempts to bridge innovation processes in management practices with processes of diffusion of management practices. Second, a wider variety of research methods have come into play to study management innovations. I conclude there is substantial room for further work in this exciting area, for
instance by looking at management innovation in emerging markets.