Communicating for Innovation: The “Social” Enterprise and the Translation of Novel Ideas

Abstract

The process of innovation involves at least three stages: Leveraging knowledge to generate ideas (idea creation), communicating about the adequacy of novel ideas to the top management based on the firm’s strategic objectives (idea translation) and actually making innovative products and processes a reality (idea implementation). This chapter explores the channels and the conditions under which social media can improve the innovation process in enterprises. The analysis is based on a multi-disciplinary review of academic literature to explore how social media can impact the first two stages of innovation: The creation and the translation of ideas. The findings are complemented by data collected from a survey about the uses of social media in private companies and by insights drawn from case studies of multinational companies that analyze the readiness of organizations to benefit from social media use.