Muddling through in innovation — On incremental failure in developing an engine

Alf Rehn and Marcus Lindahl

Journal of Business Research, 2012, vol. 65, issue 6, 807-813

Abstract: Researchers often use Lindblom's concept of “muddling through” to explain how complex and incremental processes can lead to satisfactory results even without the systematic application of “management”. However, this tendency to look for positive outcomes from muddling might be limiting, as this tends to ignore muddling that ends in failure. This article aims to extend the work following Lindblom by studying the failure of an innovation in engine technology. The key argument is that by paying more attention to failures, business research can develop a more complete theory of muddling through, and this article uses the case of how a new engine for lawnmowers incrementally failed to become an innovation as an illustration. In this, the term “sliding” is introduced to clarify the role of incrementalism in the processual study of business failure.

Keywords: Muddling through; Failure; Technology marketing; Innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:6:p:807-813

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.12.020

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