Organisational innovation and how it challenges management theory

The present paper is a contribution to the part of the MEADOW project that deals with dynamics at the level of organisations. The paper suggests that dynamics at the level of organisations can be analysed in terms of organisational innovation as something more than mere organisational change. Developing a concept of organisational innovation, the paper suggests that organisational innovation can be analysed in terms of how individual and organisational learning combine with the reorientation of management perceptions, and it suggests that organisational innovation is about redirecting, speeding up and slowing down new forms of organisational activities. Subsequently, the paper provides an overview of management theory, proposing that the present state of management theory is one where the traditional dichotomy between a rational and a natural approach to organisations has been bridged. Concluding, the paper argues that applying the concept of organisational innovation necessitates that organisations are viewed as systems that find themselves in a rational and natural universe at the same time.