Policy-driven responsibility for innovations and organisational learning: an ethnographic study in additive manufacturing product innovations

Purpose: Policy-oriented responsibility initiatives are institutional attempts to make innovations more responsible. One such initiative is offered by the European Commission’s responsible research and innovation (RRI) keys (public engagement, gender equality, science education, open access and ethics). This study is conducted in the context of an EU Horizon 2020 project and focuses on the introduction of RRI keys to innovation projects of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry. This study aims to understand how these RRI keys are perceived and adopted by industry project partners. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use an ethnographic study based on “participant observation”, supported by interviews and workshops with AM industry experts. In particular, the analysis covers two specific innovation use cases – one in the medical field, and second in the automotive field, in the context of the EU project. The analysis, based on ethnographic data, is inductive and interpretative. Findings: The authors take a critical approach towards the implementation of RRI policy keys as measurable indicators, and argue that they are not easy tools to implement. The authors portray how RRI keys were understood and welcomed by industrial organisations, and how their implementation raised controversies. The authors also found that RRI keys are difficult to understand. They are not easy to measure and report, and this contrasts with earlier proposals of how RRI keys should be governed or implemented. The governance, meaning the dialogue between stakeholders both internal and external to the organisation, was time-consuming and required constant organisational learning. Originality/value: Due to the insightful ethnographic methodology, the authors could well underline the faults and difficulties of the application of policy-oriented responsibility in innovation. The findings illustrate the difficulty of implementing RRI in an industry that mainly operates business-to-business. This can help future policymakers to find more successful ways of pushing industry and innovators to be more responsible. It can also suggest better ways of reaching higher organisational learning for the purpose of more responsible innovations.