How the social network can boycott a technological change: A grounded theory for innovation failure in a small organization

The object of this paper is to examine the way in which a social network wedges itself between the idea of an innovation and its actual implementation. The intervention of the social network can make any shift away from the original expectations not only feasible, but also unpredictable. In addition, the intervention of the social network can make such changes occur regardless of the power detained by the actors at the beginning of the innovation process. It is only when ideas, and, therefore, innovation projects, arise in a social network, in fact that, their implications become manifest to the social actors. The same project can be seen as a threat to an actor and as an opportunity to another. These conflicts lead to continuous negotiating and bargaining over the initial idea