Do Verganti´s (1999) ideas of Planned Flexibility still hold today?

Abstract: Much can happen in 16 years to a field of expertise such as Management. For instance, the economy can fluctuate, fresh social trends can bring change and new innovations can shift the course of where society is headed. In 1999 Verganti conducted a research of companies’ ability of incorporating flexibility into innovation processes. Distinction was made between anticipation and reaction capabilities, where anticipation required a great extent of homework in order to be accurate. He argued that depending on the environment of the industry in which the company operates, different degrees of reaction capabilities were required. However, he concluded that projects with complete lack of anticipation capabilities could not be successful. The aim of this study is to question whether the conclusion Verganti reached in 1999 still holds, or if projects solely relying on reactive capabilities actually can succeed in today’s market. Interviews were conducted with two different project leaders operating projects within the vehicle and computer programming industry respectively. The project active in the vehicle industry typically uses an anticipative approach with very successful results. In contrast, the computer-programming project adopts a solely reactive approach, yet very prosperous within its industry.