Flexing the frame

Description

Why do incumbent firms frequently reject non-incremental innovations? Beyond technical, structural, or economic factors, we propose the degree of frame flexibility (i.e., the capability of the top management team (TMT) to expand an innovation's categorical boundaries, and to cast the innovation as emotionally-resonate with the organization's identity, capabilities, and competitive boundaries) plays a role. We argue that forces of inertia constrict how TMTs perceive innovations, but that frame flexibility can overcome these perceptions, increasing the likelihood of adoption and the breadth of the organization's innovation practices. We advance a theoretical model that relaxes the assumption that cognitive frames are static, showing how they become flexible via categorical positioning, and introducing a role for emotional frames that appeal to organizational sentiments and aspirations in innovation adoption.