Proses Inovasi Produk Pangan Fungsional: Studi Kasus Perusahaan-Perusahaan Lokal di Indonesia

Abstrak. Inovasi merupakan penentu daya saing perusahaan, dimana kesuksesannya ditentukan oleh proses yang dilaluinya. Model proses inovasi linear merupakan model yang paling banyak digunakan namun masih memiliki kekurangan. Penelitian ini berupaya mengembangkan model proses inovasi linear dengan memasukkan unsur aktor, aktivitas, serta feedback. Melalui studi kasus berganda dengan pengumpulan data melalui wawancara dan observasi di perusahaan-perusahaan produsen pangan fungsional, penelitian ini memperoleh variasi baru dari model proses inovasi linear. Kebaruan model terlihat dari keberadaan tahapan yang berbeda serta delay antara tahap pengembangan (development) dan difusi (diffusion). Penelitian ini menemukan perbedaan antara perusahaan yang terkait dengan hilirisasi hasil litbang perguruan tinggi/lembaga litbang dengan yang melakukan inovasi mandiri. Perbedaan ini terlihat pada tingkat formalitas dan fleksibilitas proses serta pilihan strategi dan prinsip inovasi. Dari hasil analisis, ditemukan tipe-tipe ide yang berasal dari pihak internal dan eksternal, serta aktivitas knowledge sourcing beserta aspek komplementaritas dan substituabilitasnya. Terdapat pula dua tipe tahapan penyaringan ide, yakni yang bersifat riil dan semu, dimana karakternya sangat ditentukan oleh jumlah ide yang muncul. Perbedaan karakteristik pengambilan keputusan terlihat antara family firm dengan non-family firm, yang ditentukan oleh skala usaha, sumber modal usaha dan pendanaan R&D, keterlibatan dan dominasi pihak eksternal, serta tipe perusahaan terkait fungsinya dalam hal inkubasi produk.Kata kunci: Proses inovasi, inovasi produk, pangan fungsional, sumber inovasi, strategi inovasiAbstract. Innovation is a driver of firm's competitiveness, in which the success is determined by the process it traversed. Although the linear innovation process model is the most widely used one, it still has some limitations. This study attempted to develop linear innovation process model by incorporating the elements of actors, activities, and feedback. Through multiple case studies, functional food producers were interviewed and observed. This research obtained different variations from the linear innovation process model. The novelty of the model can be seen from the existence of different stages and the delay between the development and the diffusion stage. This study found that there were differences between firms associated with downstream R&D in higher education/R&D institutions, and the ones conducting independent innovation. These differences occurred in the level of formality and process flexibility as well as the choice of strategies and principles of innovation. Based on the results of the analysis, several types of ideas originating from internal and external parties were identified, as well as the knowledge sourcing activities along with the complementarities and substituability. There are also two types of stages of idea screening - the real and the pseudo, where the character was greatly determined by the number of the emerging ideas. Differences in the characteristics of decision making were identified between family firm and non-family firm, determined by the scale of the business, the source of venture capital and R&D funding, the involvement and dominance of external parties, and the type of company in relation with its function in terms of product incubation.Keywords: Innovation process, product innovation, functional food, source of innovation, innovation strateg