The Contribution Of Visionary Projects To The Innovation Project Portfolio: Analysing The Exploration Of Technological Innovations In Design Oriented Contexts

The increasingly competitive and global economy requires that companies constantly nurture the market with new products and services, better than the old ones, faster than competitors and that are more meaningful to users. Companies are required to pursue innovation while sustaining the operational effectiveness of their normal core business. Well-established companies tend to work on incremental innovations that build on their existing competences in order to sustain the normal progress of their business. Innovation research though suggests that exploring opportunities of a more radical nature opens new opportunities for growth and successful long-term performance. At the same time, scholars state that strategic decisions about project selection, resource allocation and portfolio balance have a positive impact on innovation performance and the successful achievement of strategic goals, suggesting thus that effective portfolio management results in innovation success. The present investigation is based on a mono-firm longitudinal case study in the high-end design furniture industry. The research studies how a design-oriented firm (Cassina) embraces its own approach to technology in order to develop a vision of the future of living, while still pursuing excellence in its core business. The paper analyses the contribution of a visionary project (VP) developed in partnership with the studio carlorattiassociati, to the overall innovation project portfolio; analysing the effects of exploring technological innovation in design- oriented contexts. Overall we found that introducing visionary projects (VP) that approach more radical endeavours affects the strategic selection criteria of project typologies and partner (designers) categories, the breadth and homogeneity of the portfolio, innovativeness of individual projects, and firm-specific organisational learning. Findings offer new insights to the field of project portfolio strategy from a design-oriented perspective, and contribute to design-driven innovation theory by analysing the dynamics of technology and meanings through the holistic lens of portfolio strategy.