Magnitude in innovation change: adaptation and reinvention in Enterprise Architecture implementation

This paper revisits the concept of innovation changes during the implementation process. Prior literature has mostly focused on innovation changes during the adaptation process and organizational-level effects of those changes. However, such a theoretical lens leaves out an important dimension in the magnitude of changes: the potential community-level effects of changes. Large-scale, radical adaptation can be conceptualized as reinvention events that alter the nature of the innovation and create ripple-effects in the community. Thus, innovation changes include two possible processes: adaptation and reinvention. Through an in-depth case study of Enterprise Architecture implementation in an U.S. State government, this study illustrates how reinvention of innovation concepts can push the boundary of change, creating a new way of implementation in a community. The findings suggest the need to adjust our conventional methodological approach and theoretical lens in studying innovation changes and to investigate not only organizational-level effects from adaptation but also community-level effects.