Our new article, “Middle managers at the crossroads: Navigating legitimacy tensions in pursuit of radical innovation in nascent ecosystems”, has been published in Research Policy (FT50). This work was a collaborative effort with my former PhD student James Ellis and VU colleagues Saeed Khanagha and Philipp Tuertscher.
Based on a longitudinal study at Atos, we show how middle managers collaborating with fintechs navigated evolving legitimacy tensions between internal and external stakeholders, continuously adapting their strategies to sustain radical innovation.
This study sits at the heart of my ongoing research on intrapreneurship and corporate new business development capabilities, highlighting how successful innovation relies not only on bold strategies but on the everyday navigation, adaptation, and persistence of middle managers connecting organizational priorities with ecosystem opportunities.
A special thank you to Remco Neuteboom, current Head of the Future Makers Research Community, and the Future Makers Research Community for enabling access to this rich case. Your commitment to anticipating what’s next, connecting the dots across technologies, and forging new paths for customers and colleagues made this research possible. thank you also to the FINDER Marie curie research program that has been a fruitful platform for this research line over the past years: www.thefinderproject.eu
Full paper available here: Ellis, S. J., Khanagha, S., Aalbers, R., & Tuertscher, P. (2025). Middle managers at the crossroads: Navigating legitimacy tensions in pursuit of radical innovation in nascent ecosystems. Research Policy, 54(8), 1-17. 105287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2025.105287