Head, hand, and machine': The balance between tradition and innovation in craftsmanship A qualitative study on how craftsmen in the furniture making industry balance tradition and innovation.

Abstract

This study focused on the research question of how craftsmen balance tradition and innovation. Answering is completed by applying a qualitative research strategy with semi-structured interviews and participant observations conducted in the craft furniture making industry. Based on the results, this study concluded that both tradition and innovation are important elements of craftsmanship. Craftsmen want to preserve tradition, but implementing innovation is also observed as part of the craftsman’s identity. In line with this, this study specified that craftsmen realize product, process, collaboration, and business model innovations. Moreover, this study concluded that craftsmen simultaneously can preserve tradition and implement innovations by balancing as well as unbalancing. On the one hand, craftsmen can balance through strategies as segregation, integration and combination of tradition and innovation. On the other hand, a balance is not always necessary, as craftsman can also unbalance with preservation and transformation of tradition to achieve innovation. Finally, this study concluded that every craftsman can choose one or more strategies of balancing and unbalancing tradition with one or more types of innovations, encouraging craftsmen to explore and craft their own paths.