Task-setting strategies for hackathon goal achievement in industrial intra-organizational innovation

Abstract

This paper addresses the hackathon as an innovation contest method in the IT industry, beyond the coding context. Specifically, it focuses on hackathon task-setting strategies, i.e. drawing boundaries to specify the problem to be solved. Although task setting plays an integral part in hackathon goal achievement, i.e. whether the hackathon is perceived as successful or not, task setting has not yet been the focus of hackathon research. Therefore, this paper presents a case study of an IT company with four subsidiaries operating in four countries in the Baltic region, carrying out 17 intra- or intra-inter-organizational hackathons in six iterations. As a result, the paper reveals hackathon task-setting strategies in terms of the employee maturity level regarding the corporate context of the subsidiaries. Presenting conclusions for both academics and industry, the paper contributes to the literature on hackathon task-setting strategies particularly in organizations in the IT sector, with varying maturity levels.