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Trajectory Dynamics in Innovation: Developing and Transforming a Mobile Money Service Across Time and Place

Author

Listed:
  • Eivor Oborn

    (Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom)

  • Michael Barrett

    (Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1AG, United Kingdom, Stockholm School of Economics, SE-113 83 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Wanda Orlikowski

    (Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142)

  • Anna Kim

    (Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1G5, Canada)

Abstract

This paper examines how and why innovations are reshaped as they become implemented and used in locales that are distant and distinct from those where the innovation was initially developed. Drawing on an in-depth field study of the innovation process that produced a mobile money system for Kenya, we contribute an understanding of the particular dynamics that arise when an innovation trajectory interacts with local trajectories that constitute the local conditions and practices of specific places. We identify four distinct patterns of trajectory dynamics—separation, coordination, diversification, and integration—each of which has different implications for the innovation, its implementation, and consequences on the ground. Developing a model of trajectory dynamics in innovation, we theorize the processes through which innovations are transformed over time as they interact with multiple local trajectories and the specific innovation outcomes that are generated as a result. Such theorizing reconceptualizes traditional notions of innovation diffusion by explicating how and why innovations change in multiple and unexpected ways as they move to particular places and engage with local conditions and practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Eivor Oborn & Michael Barrett & Wanda Orlikowski & Anna Kim, 2019. "Trajectory Dynamics in Innovation: Developing and Transforming a Mobile Money Service Across Time and Place," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(5), pages 1097-1123, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:30:y:2019:i:5:p:1097-1123
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2018.1281
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    Cited by:

    1. Weiss, Tim & Perkmann, Markus & Phillips, Nelson, 2021. "Scaling Technology Ventures in Africa: New Opportunities for Research," OSF Preprints z6rjg, Center for Open Science.
    2. Kodongo, Odongo, 2023. "Does the fintech ecosystem promote effective financial inclusion in Kenya?," KBA Centre for Research on Financial Markets and Policy Working Paper Series 70, Kenya Bankers Association (KBA).
    3. Katherine Tatarinov & Tina C. Ambos & Feichin Ted Tschang, 2023. "Scaling digital solutions for wicked problems: Ecosystem versatility," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(4), pages 631-656, June.
    4. Birton J. Cowden & Joshua S. Bendickson & Blake D. Mathias & Shelby J. Solomon, 2022. "Straight OUTTA Detroit: Embracing Stigma as Part of the Entrepreneurial Narrative," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(8), pages 1915-1949, December.
    5. Molla, Alemayehu & Biru, Ashenafi, 2023. "The evolution of the Fintech entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa: An exploratory study and model for future development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    6. Sprong, Niels & Driessen, Paul H. & Hillebrand, Bas & Molner, Sven, 2021. "Market innovation: A literature review and new research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 450-462.

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