Purpose The purpose of this paper is to systematically explore the current understanding of the role of non-R&D and non-managerial employees in different phases and types of innovation, and to propose avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach By conducting a mapping study and applying a critical discourse analysis, the phenomenon of “ordinary” employee innovation is explored across various fields, such as human resource management, psychology, economics, strategy, marketing and technology management. Proposals for future research are suggested based on the theoretical framework of dynamic capability, with the aim of further integrating employee innovation in the innovation management domain. Findings The findings illuminate five main themes that form the employee innovation discourse across various academic disciplines, namely, employee innovative work behavior, firm innovation performance, employee innovation processes, frontline service employees and management tools for employee innovation. Originality/value Unlike prior studies in the field of innovation management, this study specifically focuses on the employees without innovation-specific functions in organizations, or “ordinary” employees. Concerning the methodological lens of critical discourse analysis, the authors suggest forming the employee innovation discourse in an inclusive manner. Based on the theoretical lens of dynamic capability, a research agenda is proposed in which employee innovation research makes additional use of innovation processes and types, and takes into account the interactive processes and strong empirical evidence for relevant management tools.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance knowledge about the mechanisms behind, and the implications of, varying involvement in digitally enhanced employee-driven innovation (EDI) by studying how a firm integrates a web-based tool in the organization of its EDI process. Design/methodology/approach Based on a qualitative in-depth interview study with managers and employees at one high-performing and one low-performing office of a global IT firm, a critical discourse analysis was performed. It explored how the EDI discourse was produced, distributed and consumed in relation to the web-based tool for collecting and selecting employee ideas. Findings The results demonstrate that the production of the innovation discourse by the top-level management, which emphasizes client satisfaction rather than employee engagement, restricts the employees’ utilization of the digital platform that distributes the discourse. However, at the high-performing office, employee participation is ensured because the local managers act as co-distributors of the digital tool. Research limitations/implications The single case study design limits the generalizability of the results, but is nevertheless relevant for understanding the mechanisms and implications in similar contexts where web-based tools are used to enhance EDI processes. Practical implications The study provides practical insights into the importance of local management’s active promotion of digital tools in order to ensure employee involvement. Originality/value The study contributes to the EDI literature by identifying some mechanisms behind and the implications of varying employee involvement in digitally enhanced EDI processes.

This paper examines a digital employee-oriented innovation program at a global IT-firm. It addresses the research question: how is the generation and promotion of employee ideas organised by the management, and what are the behavioural implications in terms of participation of such an organising? Drawing on the literature on inclusive innovation and employee-driven innovation, the authors explore the extent to which ordinary employees are included in innovative processes at work. The critical discourse analysis of written and spoken text exposes inclusiveness concerning the managements’ production and distribution of innovation discourse in the initial phases of the program. However, the analysis simultaneously reveals considerable excluding elements in the ordinary employees’ consumption of this discourse in its latter phases, particularly regarding the parallel discourses “we are all innovators” and “the single winning entrepreneur”.

A common assumption in product value literature is that authenticity is what contemporary consumers value the most. However, as this paper illustrates, the meaning of authenticity is unclear, and the term appears foreign to product development practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to explore in what ways product development professionals talk about product value in general and how this relates to authenticity. The analysis of the interviews reveals that product developers must embrace authenticity as a holistic framework if the phenomenon is to be constructive for companies within the product development industry. In line with the concept of authenticity as a multi-dimensional framework, this paper suggests that authenticity does not solely result from certain intrinsic tangible or intangible product characteristics, and that commercially strong products and brands do not automatically become "authentic". The contribution of this paper to the product development fi eld is a framework for a multidimensional construct of authenticity, and an account of what representatives within selected companies talk about when asked about how they create consumer value, and how they contribute

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