The barriers and consequences of radical innovations: Introduction to the issue

This article introduces the special issue on barriers and consequences of radical innovation (RI). Radical innovation, as distinct from more incremental forms of innovation, is increasingly important for organizations and national economies. However, firms face many challenges and barriers (both internal and external) which hinder their RI efforts, and result in significantly higher failure rates for RIs as compared with other forms of innovation. Individually and collectively, the twelve cross-disciplinary articles in this special issue provide a number of important contributions to the extant knowledge base. While most of the contributions focus on barriers, with a concomitant emphasis on enablers, some insights are also offered into the lesser examined area of consequences, particularly the unintended consequences of RI. The editorial concludes by summarizing key issues and presenting provocations for further research.