Facilitating radical innovation through secret technology-oriented skunkworks projects: Implications for human resource practices

Abstract

Technology-oriented skunkworks projects aim at facilitating radical innovation through approaches different from ‘normal’ research and development processes and have their specific organisational challenges. Joint human resource management (HRM) and innovation management research on HRM requirements for technology-oriented skunkworks is so far scarce, revealing a timely research gap and propelling our research question: what are the human resources (HR) practices that best support secret technology-oriented skunkworks projects (compared to HR practices in innovation contexts)? An exploratory case study of a skunkworks project at PSA Peugeot-Citroën (currently Groupe PSA) reveals seven skunkworks-boosting HR practices: extreme empowerment and autonomy in job design and task development, extensive team-based training, creativity-based performance appraisal, participative decision-making systems, ultra-open job descriptions, ‘undercover’ (extremely discreet) recruitment and selection processes and turbulence-oriented employee flexibility. Managers responsible for technology-oriented skunkworks projects are offered guidance. Overall, our investigation enriches the promising research stream on skunkworks in action and their HR-related challenges, also opening further research opportunities on skunkworks managerial success conditions.