The Radicalness of Innovation in Nonprofit Community Sport Organizations

Alison Doherty (), Larena Hoeber, Orland Hoeber, Kristen A. Morrison and Richard Wolfe
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Alison Doherty: School of Kinesiology, Western University, Richmond St, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Larena Hoeber: Faculty of Kinesiology & Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Orland Hoeber: Department of Computer Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Kristen A. Morrison: Department of Kinesiology, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada
Richard Wolfe: Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Our study examined and compared the type, process, conditions, and consequences of radical and incremental innovations in community sport organizations (CSOs), which are a type of nonprofit membership association. Interviews were conducted with the president (or representative) of 14 CSOs engaged with both radical and incremental innovations. Radical innovations were reported to be mostly technical (but also administrative), undertaken with the goal of club growth and enhancing club management, adopted and further adapted from outside the organization, influenced by the culture and expertise of the board and the culture and capacity of the CSO at large, and informed by market opportunity and best practices. The radical innovations were reported to be successful in reaching their intended goals, and a wide variety of unanticipated (positive) consequences was also realized. The findings have implications for the management of radical (and incremental) innovation in the focal nonprofit context and contribute to theorizing about the radicalness of organizational innovation.

Keywords: organizational innovation; radical innovation; incremental innovation; nonprofit membership association (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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