Division of labour in championing activities for technological innovations in Korea: patterns and performance consequences

This study empirically examined the patterns of division of labour in championing activities fortechnological innovations in Korea, and their relationships with project and organisationalcomplexity and the consequences of performance. Based on data from 88 new productdevelopment (NPD) projects in Korea, this study found that there were six different types ofchampion role structures: two solo champion structures, three dual champion structures, andone triple champion structure. This study examined the characteristics of key people whoplayed three different champion roles in terms of education level, functional area, andhierarchical position in the organisation. It also revealed that organisational complexity ledto specialisation of the champion role structure. Role specialisation in championingactivities in general and the existence of an executive champion in particular had asignificant impact on uncertainty reduction in terms of technology, market, resourceacquisition, and organisation support, which in turn led to higher performances in theinnovation project.