The role of inter-organizational management practices in strengthening inexperienced innovation communities : Exploratory study in Burkina Faso

This article looks at the role of inter-organizational management practices (IOMPs) in the functioning of innovation communities that fail to succeed. Based on a literature review of strategic approaches to networks and innovation management approaches, an analytical framework was designed to explore four areas of inter-organizational relationship management that address frequently encountered obstacles: commitment and control; training and information; piloting the innovation process; the allocation of ressources. Based on six case studies in Burkina Faso, we show on the one hand that the IOMPs are necessary but not sufficient for an innovation community to work better and on the other hand, that other management areas of interorganizational relationships should be considered. Two types of innovation communities (dispersed or disaggregated) are identified, for which the role for IOMPs to enhance their capacity to innovate is discussed. JEL Codes: M11, L22, O13, O31, N17