Surmounting the Valley of Death: A Theoretical Examination of Role Interdependence in Product Innovation

Abstract

The passage from the technological invention to the development of a commercial product is a recurring problem in innovation management and often described as the “Valley of Death.” Much emphasis has been placed in previous studies on constraints on resources, uncertainty regarding technology, commercialization challenges, and cross-functional integration, but theoretical focus on interdependence among the organizational roles that deal with this transition is relatively scarce. This paper conducts a theoretical analysis of role interdependence in product innovation and proposes that role interdependence is a relational process that brings together dispersed knowledge, resources, decision-making authority and capabilities in commercializing the innovation. The study uses integrative theoretical research based on literature-based analysis, conceptual synthesis and deductive proposition development, based on the Role Theory, Resource Dependence Perspective, Knowledge Integration Perspective and Dynamic Capability Perspective. These mechanisms are identified as the interdependency of knowledge, resources, and decisions, all of which play a part in the progression of innovation, accentuated by differentiated roles in innovation. It also shows how role clarity, technological uncertainty and market turbulence moderate the impact of these relationships, and how coordination overload, power imbalance, role uncertainty and excessive dependency are possible dysfunctional effects. The resulting Role-Interdependence-to-Commercialization Framework describes a process of commercialization as being dynamically configured, and as a recursive process instead of a linear technological process. Theoretically, the paper presents a framework of role interdependence as a key explanatory mechanism of how organizations deal with innovation discontinuities and provides the groundwork for future empirical studies.