Technological characteristics and organizational innovation: examining as genotypes and phenotypes

Abstract

Organizations to remain competitive expand their product portfolio, enter new markets, and/or consolidate their market position. To achieve competitiveness, they use their traits (genotypes), expand their internal resources or the existing elements and components (phenotypes) with new elements and components i.e. innovation. Another aspect of competitiveness is the genotypes need to assist their innovations (or phenotypes) to cumulate as stable designs in their services/products (phenotypes). The extent to which organizations combine their generalist and specialist phenotypes decides the characteristics of its phenotypes, thereby, their competitiveness or height in the fitness landscape. Organizations acquire phenotypes (products or organizations) but their genotypes decide the extent to which the acquired phenotypes assist them in increasing their height in the fitness landscape. As organizations expand phenotypes it requires combining genotypes that assist both short-term aspects, economic and financial, and the long-term aspects such as equilibrium with natural and built environments. In fast-changing systems such as IT, organizations face considerable challenges in developing phenotypes by combining short-term and long-term genotypes. By selecting an IT organization and examining the extent to which phenotypes and genotypes increase its height in the fitness landscape, we can contribute to the existing body of knowledge on sustainable development, especially for fast-changing systems.