Beyond Diffusion: A Systematic Literature Review of Innovation Scaling

Jessica Breaugh, Keegan McBride, Moritz Kleinaltenkamp and Gerhard Hammerschmid
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Jessica Breaugh: Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Keegan McBride: Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Moritz Kleinaltenkamp: Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Gerhard Hammerschmid: Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School, 10117 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: Innovation is essential for our ability to overcome global issues such as climate change, natural resource depletion, and inequality. A central aspect of innovation is the scaling process. While an abundance of studies on innovation scaling exist in many different disciplines, there is a lack of shared understanding of what scaling means and how it can be successfully achieved. This systematic literature review addresses both these issues by reviewing 147 articles on “innovation scaling” making several contributions to research on innovations and innovation scaling. First, in outlining the ontological differences between “diffusion” and “scaling”, clear conceptual boundaries are established, which provide clarity and support cross-disciplinary consilience. Second, based on the analysis of articles, eleven common modal contextual factors that influence the outcomes of innovation scaling across contexts and disciplines are presented. Third, an initial theoretical framework of the innovation scaling process is developed, outlining four theoretical propositions. As a fourth contribution, the article establishes a research agenda for the future development of innovation scaling research across many research domains.

Keywords: scaling; upscaling; scaling innovation; innovation diffusion; innovation; systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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