Cooking under fire: managing multilevel tensions between creativity and innovation in haute cuisine

Christel Lane and Daniela Lup ()

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This inductive study of Michelin-starred restaurants in Britain and Germany examines how organizations attend to tensions between idea creation and implementation that characterize innovation processes. Based on the analysis of in-depth interviews with 40 chefs-de-cuisine, we identify tensions at two distinct levels of analysis. The first tension, situated at the individual level, occurs between the artistic identity of the chefs-de-cuisine and their work identity; the second one, at the organizational level, arises because creativity and implementation are equally important for the organizational success, thus making it impossible to disentangle chefs’ contribution from that of the kitchen brigade. Case evidence shows that effective tactics for managing these tensions simultaneously emphasize distinctions and create synergies between the contradictory elements of each tension. Moreover, our cross-national sample allows us to show how differences at the national institutional level affect the management of tensions and thus shed light on the mechanisms through which institutional environments affect innovation. These insights contribute to existing research in creativity and innovation.

Keywords: creativity; innovation; implementation; haute cuisine; multilevel analysis; tensions; Britain and Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Industry and Innovation, 2015, 22(8), pp. 654-676. ISSN: 1366-2716

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Related works:
Journal Article: Cooking under Fire: Managing Multilevel Tensions between Creativity and Innovation in Haute Cuisine (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:65799

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