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A Simulation-Based Approach to Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation Implementation

Department of Operations Management/System Dynamics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142
nelson{at}mit.edu

The history of management practice is filled with innovations that failed to live up to the promise suggested by their early success. A paradox currently facing organizational theory is that the failure of these innovations often cannot be attributed to an intrinsic lack of efficacy. To resolve this paradox, in this paper I study the process of innovation implementation. Working from existing theoretical frameworks, I synthesize a model that describes the process through which participants in an organization develop commitment to using a newly adopted innovation. I then translate that framework into a formal model and analyze it using computer simulation. The analysis suggests three new constructs—reversion, regeneration, and the motivation threshold—characterizing the dynamics of implementation. Taken together, the constructs provide an internally consistent theory of how seemingly rational decision rules can create the apparent paradox of innovations that generate early results but fail to produce sustained benefit.

Key Words: Implementation; Process Improvement; Commitment and Motivation; Simulation

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