The importance of theory in the management discipline is the subject of ongoing debate and there have been recent calls for novel conceptualizations to stimulate research. In the area of innovation, one of the main conclusions of the influential Minnesota studies was the need to develop a metatheory. This paper examines the role of theory in the development of the research agenda for the area of innovation. Our approach is to build on the seminal work of the Minnesota studies and on the innovation perspectives of Carl Slappendel. The result of the study is a proposition that Ecological Systems Theory (EST) addresses many of the gaps that emerged from the analysis of the literature. Consequently the paper makes a contribution by developing a meta-theoretical framework for the study of innovation derived from the EST schemata.