The Presence of Bootlegging Activity in the R&D Department of High-Technology Firms

Marek Szwejczewski and Yaser Masoudnia

Chapter 3 in Corporate Underground:Bootleg Innovation and Constructive Deviance, 2022, pp 75-102 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: This chapter presents some of the major findings from a study of bootlegging. A large group of R&D employees (all serial bootleggers) were interviewed in-depth about various aspects of their clandestine work. The interviews explored the type of innovations (product, process, radical, incremental) that resulted from bootlegging as stated by the respondents. The research examined the reasons behind why the employees carried out this illicit activity. In the interviews, the bootleggers were asked about how they managed their time so they could work on covert projects. The research also examined how these employees went about the crucial activity of revealing the clandestine projects to the wider organization.

Keywords: Bootlegging; Creative Deviance; R&D Management; Innovation; Technology Management; Slack Innovation; Underground System; Under-the-Table Work; Informal Corporate Entrepreneurship; Autonomous Initiatives; Underground Innovation; Stealth Innovation; Unsponsored Innovation; Friday-Afternoon Work; Work Behind the Fume Cupboard; Free-Lance Work; Under-the-Counter Work; Pet Project; Discretionary Research; Intrapreneurship; Freewheeling; Illicit Research; Scrounging; Renegades' Work; Recherche Camouflagé; Recherche Caché; Recherche Parallèle; Recherche Libre; Recherche En Perruque; Recherche Sauvage or Recherche Sous-Marine; U-boot Forschung or Graue Projekte (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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