Innovating and transforming during COVID-19: insights from Italian firms

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a huge number of firms had to stop their activities due to the lockdown situation that has been decided in most countries. However, to contribute to the many emergencies caused by the pandemic through purpose-led actions, many of those firms have reacted with innovative projects and changes in their manufacturing activities. In this paper, we address why and how these efforts have been implemented and how the situation of these firms evolved after the peak of the health crisis. Drawing on the literature about the purpose and R&D/innovation management concerning health emergency, we develop a conceptual framework to understand how different types of purpose-led actions (i.e., short term and/or long term) and different R&D management strategies (i.e., exploitation or exploration of R&D, innovation, and manufacturing competencies) can characterize firms’ rapid response for the benefit of the community in the fight against COVID-19, for example through the provision of medical equipment or other products and services. We validate the framework using the cases of 21 Italian firms which have taken very fast actions during the peak of the COVID-19 emergency.