Unpacking Agility in a Collaborative Product Innovation Process

ABSTRACT This research examines how agility manifests in collaborative innovation processes and how various agile activities influence the successful commercialization of innovation. The agile innovation process comprises joint strategic planning, joint problem solving, joint improvisation with collaborative partners, and community sensing to gain market insights. Using qualitative comparative analysis of survey data from 138 collaborative innovation processes in the Swedish video game industry, the study probes the conceptual framework and explores complex causal pathways. The results indicate the importance of embracing the unexpected in the innovation process and suggest that problem solving and improvisation with a key collaborative partner are conducive to successful innovation commercialization. Joint strategic planning does not always lead to positive innovation commercialization, as it must be combined with other agile activities to create synergies. Similarly, community sensing does not always facilitate innovation commercialization, and the synergistic effects of the other three agile activities may substitute for community sensing. This research extends theory on the agility–innovation performance link by identifying distinct patterns of the agile activities, relationship‐focused agility, and open agility, in collaboration with external actors. Specifically, it shows that firms can leverage either relationship‐focused agility or open agility to achieve successful innovation commercialization.