The evolution of innovation management towards contextual innovation

Purpose In recent decades, innovation management has changed. This article provides an overview of the changes that have taken place, focusing on innovation management in large companies, with the aim of explaining that innovation management has evolved toward a contextual approach, which it will explain and illustrate using two cases. Design/methodology/approach The basic approach in this article is to juxtapose a review of existing literature regarding trends in innovation management and research and development (R&D) management generations, and empirical data about actual approaches to innovation. Findings The idea that there is a single mainstream innovation approach does not match with the (successful) approaches companies have adopted. What is required is a contextual approach. However, research with regard to such an approach is fragmented. Decisions to adapt the innovation management approach to the newness of an innovation or the type of organization respectively have thus far been investigated separately. Research limitations/implications An integrated approach is needed to support the intuitive decisions managers make to tailor their innovation approach to the type of innovation, organization(s), industry and country/culture. Originality/value The practical and scientific value of this paper is that is describes an integrated approach to contextual innovation.