Resource-Constrained Product Innovation — An Evidence-Based Review and Research Agenda

Abstract

Historically, leveraging the right resources has been deemed critical for successful product innovation. However, recent findings reveal that some entrepreneurs and ventures, despite facing resource constraints, can still develop innovative products. This intriguing phenomenon has captured the attention of scholars, resulting in an increasing number of empirical work examining various aspects of resource-constrained product innovation. To consolidate the dispersed knowledge generated by these studies and establish a solid foundation for evidence-based entrepreneurship and management, we conducted a comprehensive review of 53 articles. Through an evidence-based analysis, we construct a framework that encompasses the who-why-how-where-when-what of the phenomenon. This framework delineates the scope of the phenomenon and sheds light on the enabling antecedents and processes undertaken by the actors, thus serving as a foundation for both research and practice. Moreover, we identified significant research gaps on the topic and provided suggestions for future research to focus on underexplored concepts and relationships within the framework.