Intersections in System Innovation: a Nested-case Methodology to study Co-evolving Innovation Journeys

Current persistent sustainability challenges are widely understood to require transitions andsystem innovations. As these systemic changes typically emerge from multiple co-evolvinginnovations, Schot and Geels [2008. Strategic niche management and sustainable innovationjourneys; theory, findings, research agenda, and policy. Technology Analysis and StrategicManagement 20, no. 5: 537–54] urge to study the interactions between innovation journeys.Their call for multiplicity has been met through several studies.Yet considering that these analysesstill leave the attendant navigational challenges underexposed, this article demonstratesthe usefulness of nested-case methodologies. Focusing on the ‘intersections’between interpenetratingcase histories, in-depth investigation is combined with broader attention to next-orderchanges. The relevance and implications of these intersections are illustrated through fourinnovation journeys in the Dutch traffic management field: unfolding largely in parallel, butsometimes intersecting, they yield a mixed picture of trajectory formation and fragmentation.The phenomenon of emergent incoherence is identified as a key strategic challenge in systeminnovation processes.