Modelling Hierarchical Configurations in Innovation Research with Two-Step QCA: Methodological Recommendations and an Application to Workarounds

Luc Sandfort (), Talea Hellweg (), Martin Schneider () and Katharina Radermacher ()
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Luc Sandfort: Paderborn University
Talea Hellweg: Paderborn University
Martin Schneider: Paderborn University
Katharina Radermacher: Paderborn University

No 163, Working Papers Dissertations from Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics

Abstract: Creativity and innovation are, in many cases, understood as the result of a complex interplay of hierarchical factors, such as national, regional, and firm characteristics, or between organizational and individual factors. While recent applications of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) have begun to model such configurational links, their hierarchical nature has received little empirical attention. As this paper demonstrates, theories that posit hierarchical configurations can and should be explored using the two-step variant of QCA. The paper outlines the potential of the method for the field of creativity and innovation and helps to navigate key modelling decisions. An illustrative study explores the occurrence of informal employee innovation behavior – workarounds – based on the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework. The results of the two-step QCA are superior in terms of reduced limited diversity and complexity to those of the conventional one-step QCA. Overall, the method has considerable potential for empirically capturing the complex, hierarchical interactions inherent in many innovation processes.

Keywords: Two-step QCA; qualitative comparative analysis; bottom-up innovation; workarounds; ability-motivation-opportunity framework (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Y4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56
Date: 2025-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm
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