Microfoundations in the Strategic Technology and Innovation Management Domain : An Integrative Literature Review and Paths for Future Research

The “microfoundations movement” seeks to understand how micro-level (e.g., individual) actions and interactions lead to macro-level (e.g., organizational) outcomes and mediate relations between macro-level variables. Due to its tremendous growth, it is also quite fragmented and dispersed, which impedes the identification of the most promising opportunities for future research. To overcome this problematic situation, we conduct an integrative literature review of existing research on the microfoundations in the strategic technology and innovation management domain, synthesize it, and chart out promising paths for future research. We apply a multi-coder, multi-step approach, identify 78 relevant articles published in 21 leading academic journals over the period 2003 – 2021, and propose a research agenda comprising 12 promising avenues for future research based on the resulting insights. These findings have important implications for the academic literature and management practice