Innovation types and the search for new ideas at the fuzzy front end: Where to look and how often?

This study investigates the search for new ideas at the front end of innovation (FEI), exploring how idea search strategies directed beyond and within firm boundaries relate to organizational, managerial, process and marketing innovations (which are overlooked in the product-focused FEI literature), and to innovation performance. Drawing on a cross-industry Australian survey, the study investigates two strategies that direct firms’ external idea search: an industry value-chain strategy and a knowledge-economy strategy. Results show that the intensity of idea search strategy across industry value-chains has an effect on the frequency of product and marketing innovations, while the intensity of knowledge-economy idea search strategy has an effect on innovation performance. An interaction effect is observed between external idea search strategies and innovation performance, and internal idea search strategy intensity shows a performance effect. The research importantly extends the analysis of FEI and innovation search to include organizational, managerial, process and marketing innovations.