Cycles of organizational renewal: The interplay of strategy and innovation at bang & olufsen

Abstract

Bang & Olufsen, a Danish high-end producer of consumer electronics, has experienced both failure and success in the process of strategic renewal, challenged by blurring industry boundaries and the rise of the digital technology paradigm. A study of the last decade shows how the company tried to renew itself by improving its new product development process from three angles: strategy, innovation and organizational design. Using ethnographic and grounded theory methods with a micro-foundational perspective we illustrate how the dynamics in the process of renewal can be accrued into a longitudinal perspective where the key drivers of change cycle between strategy and innovation.