#4590. Accelerated innovation through repurposing: exaptation of design and manufacturing in response to COVID-19
August 2026 | publication date |
Proposal available till | 19-05-2025 |
4 total number of authors per manuscript | 0 $ |
The title of the journal is available only for the authors who have already paid for |
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Journal’s subject area: |
Business, Management and Accounting (all);
Business and International Management;
Strategy and Management;
Management of Technology and Innovation; |
Places in the authors’ list:
1 place - free (for sale)
2 place - free (for sale)
3 place - free (for sale)
4 place - free (for sale)
More details about the manuscript: Science Citation Index Expanded OR/AND Social Sciences Citation Index
Abstract:
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe in the first quarter of 20XX, demand for specialised equipment in hospitals soared. As a result, firms from a variety of sectors repurposed their design and manufacturing to create new products in days. By examining 80 cases of this accelerated innovation, the research investigates how a shared purpose drives change in the innovation process. It applies the lens of exaptation – the discovery of unintended functions for technologies – to explain how product complexity and ecosystem structure affect accelerated innovation in this context. The research extends the application of exaption to manufacturing as well as product design; it identifies a relationship between complexity, exaptation and ecosystems. The research suggests that the ability to exapt design and manufacturing can determine a firm’s ecosystem role. These results lead to implications for theory and for practice, during the response to and recovery from the crisis.
Keywords:
Specialised equipment; hospitals; COVID-19; accelerated innovation; design and manufacturing
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