Unpacking systemic innovation capacity as strategic ambidexterity: How projects dynamically configure capabilities for agricultural innovation

This paper details the analytical framework used for developing a nested understanding of systemic innovation capacity in an AIS. The paper then introduces the two case studies, along with the data and methods of analysis, followed by a presentation of the results as timelines of configurations of capabilities at different levels of the AIS. The case studies indicate that systemic innovation capacity constitutes configuring capabilities and resources at different levels of the AIS to leverage positive project path dependencies and break negative path dependencies due to historical capability configurations. Both case studies also simultaneously exploited existing innovation capabilities and resources, as well as using adaptive capability for exploring and creating new capability configurations to respond to emerging circumstances. We conclude with reflections and implications for theory and practice, arguing that innovation projects should have so-called strategic ambidexterity to combine exploiting existing and exploring new networks to access, combine, create, or disconnect capabilities