Innovation theater in corporate venturing units: Cultural design as a (de)legitimizing mechanism

Abstract

This paper builds theory on theatrical cultural design in corporate venturing units, such as manifested in playful esthetics (foosball tables and beanbags), startup lingo, or youthful behavior (building with Lego bricks and informal dressing). We develop a set of propositions, illuminating how theatrical cultural design can (de)legitimize corporate venturing units, highlighting three different functions: attention-direction function, social categorization function, and escapist function. In addition, we explain how such changes in legitimization can influence the resilience of corporate venturing units. Our framework contributes to an emergent debate on innovation theater by pointing to the possibility of innovation theater as a constructive process in contemporary innovation management practices.