Sense-based innovation: the new competition on meanings and relations

In this paper the focus is on the new challenges for firms in order to gain competitive advantage in the immaterial economy, where the battle is for sensemaking. According to recent literature developments, sensemaking is in fact at the centre of modern competition and is a major source of innovation in firms’ propositions: in recent years products and services have become a source of experiences for the customers and a means of collaboration, in an overall context in which the dominant logic of production is increasingly based on services and value creation is the result of co-production and co-creation processes. The paper is a first attempt at taking into account and present in an original frame different literature contribution that emphasize the emergence of “sense-based” innovation strategies. It also proposes a theoretical model that helps understanding the different sources and managerial consequences of innovation strategies based on two dimensions that are particularly critical in emergent innovations: meanings and relations. As far as managerial aspects are concerned, the paper reports valuable managerial information regarding current innovation strategies of two successful medium size Italian manufacturing enterprises. The strategic challenges, as well as the specific hints related to innovation and its factors are discussed.