Innovation generation process : Applying the adopter categorization model and concept of “chasm” to better understand social and behavioral issues

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the social and behavioral actions, activities and practices in order to group them together to create behavior‐based profiles that characterize the various stages of the innovation generation processes within organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative data were collected from nine Australian companies from the biotechnology sector. Using the grounded theory approach to data analysis, labels from Rogers' adopter categorization model were used to broadly identify and classify typical actions, activities, practices and behaviors exhibited within organizations that can be described as being “innovator”, “early adopter”, “early majority”, “late majority” or “laggard” types. Further, Moore's metaphor of “chasm” was applied to explore the nature of difficulties that organizations face in converting innovative ideas into commercially successful products and services. Findings – The use of the labels from the categories of the adopter categorization model enabled suitable behavior‐based profiles to be developed. Originality/value – The use of the adopter categorization model provides a fuller and richer insight into the innovation generation process. The model can also be used to assess more holistically the viability of innovations as they progress from inception to commercialization.