Managing relationships, networks, and complexity in innovation, diffusion, and adoption processes

Purpose – Seeks to introduce a JBIM special issue of articles that moves the innovation‐diffusion‐adoption (IDA) literature beyond identifying key success factors to thick descriptions of the dynamics of human interactions and the enactment of decisions‐events‐outcomes using multiple rounds of informant‐researcher interpretations. Design/methodology/approach – Adopts the view that informants' views as to what is happening, why it is happening, and the consequences of what is happening often go through a series of revisions depending on when the informant data are collected. Findings – Individuals successful in guiding IDA processes exhibit great adaptability in going around and through road‐blocks that they encounter over the months and years from innovation to market success. Informants in second and third interviews provide critical information on process nuances that go unreported in single‐meeting interviews. Research limitations/implications – Specific case studies are absent of how executives might use such process data to revise their sense‐making and improve decisions based on insights that become available only through such explicit retrospection. The implication is that this special issue is a stepping‐stone from cross‐sectional survey research to system dynamics research with hands‐on participation by executives. Practical implications – Now one should get real, describe, understand, and play inside IDA processes in real‐time with executives and researchers working together via multiple meetings using system dynamics research tools. Originality/value – For IDA research this special issue calls for embracing a revolution ending the dominance of closed‐end self‐completed survey data to using multiple‐rounds of face‐to‐face interviews and direct observations with informant revisions of findings.