Participatory Innovation as Unfolding Processes of Relating

This paper sets out to explore the currenttheoretical development of participatoryinnovation, and aims to expand our understandingof how this field of research deals with thecomplexity of the processes of relating betweenpeople in organisational contexts. We areinterested in exploring the interactions that takeplace between multiple stakeholders, in caseswhere a particular goal is reached, but also whenno immediate outcomes are reflected in theprocess. We argue for understanding participatoryinnovation as an attempt to engage manystakeholders through explorative approaches inwhich one has to accept uncertainty to what theoutcomes of these processes may be. We argue thatthe social dynamics emerging betweenstakeholders in participatory innovation processesare just as important to study as pre-definedachievements or business outcomes. Hence, weseek to make a conceptual contribution, by layingthe steppingstones for a nuanced perspective ofparticipation and stakeholder negotiations.