The Role of Human Factors and Organizational Structure in Intraorganizational Innovation Transfer

Abstract

Organizations invest heavily in research and development, yet many promising technologies stall before reaching the market. To understand why, this study examines how human roles and organizational structure jointly shape the internal transfer of innovation from R&D to business units. A qualitative single-case study was conducted in a Dutch semiconductor company that operates two sites: Site A, where R&D and the business unit are structurally separated, and Site B, where they are integrated. Twelve semi-structured interviews with engineers, marketers, and managers were thematically analyzed by combining deductive role constructs with inductive insights. Three innovation projects (one unsuccessful and two successful) served as comparative cases. Findings show that innovation transfer is a socio-technical process: champions create momentum, brokers translate and connect, and leaders legitimize and provide resources for the effort. However, these roles are part of a system that must be aligned. Innovation transfer success depends on their complementarity. Isolated championing or brokering is insufficient. Organizational structure amplifies or attenuates role effectiveness: separated structures depend on “heroic” boundary spanners, whereas integrated structures risk overlooking long-term exploration. Roles reinforce each other in integrated structure, with less dependency on individuals. In contrast, in separated structure, roles are highly interdependent, and the absence of one role often leads to system breakdown. Four persistent barriers of strategic misalignment, trust deficits, ambiguous accountability and exploration-exploitation tension recur across cases. Three additional moderators emerged to overcome these barriers: formal integration mechanisms, interpersonal trust, and absorptive capacity shape the organizational context that enables the human factors to close the innovation transfer gap. The study thus extends ambidexterity theory by specifying how socio-contextual factors condition role performance in the transfer of innovation. Innovation transfer succeeds when champions, brokers, and leaders act together, and when structure and context enable them. It fails when those roles are isolated, unsupported, or mistrusted.