The ODA Section invites you to a seminar where Renate Kratochvil, Stockholm School of Economics, will give the following presentation:

Cultivating Hope, Missing the Goal: Anatomy of a Highly Novel Innovation Project Failure 

Abstract
This study explores the dynamics of hope to explain a particular type of project failure in developing a highly novel innovation. We draw on findings from a four-year, publicly funded project focused on big-data-driven digital platform development in the Norwegian construction industry. We show how hope was cultivated through continuous construction of agency and pathways on the frontstage, attaching hope to different objects - driving work on the project’s prospective goal, the commercialization of a highly novel innovation for the industry. However, in the backstage, ambition gradually depleted due to the loss of potential novelty with each new object introduced and withdrawn. This eventually led to the silent discontinuation of the project before its official end, despite remaining resources. Hope sustained the continuation of the project and enabled some achievements, such as learning and implementing an off-the-shelf software solution. Yet, it prevented the team from emerging an object that could have fulfilled the intended ambition. We show how hope can contribute to a specific type of failure. 

Status of the paper: After a rejection and three constructive letters, we re-coded our data. During the presentation, I will present the new model, building on the concept of cultivating hope. I look forward to your questions, comments and ideas. 

Everyone is welcome!