Institutions play an important role in influencing innovation, as institutions can affect the behaviors and perceptions of actors on both the supply and demand sides of innovation. However, the operationalization of institutional analysis when studying the unfolding of innovation process hitherto remains challenging, mainly due to ad-hoc definition of institutions and the lack of explicit attention to institutions when conceptualizing innovation process. Addressing this gap, this paper attempts to develop an operational framework for institutional analysis, with a focus on institutional influence and innovating actors’ response as an innovation process unfolds. To do so, I highlight the three institutional elements accentuated by Scott, and also reconceptualize innovation process by drawing on concepts from strategic niche management literature. I particularly outline the functions of the framework and how to utilize it to facilitate institutional analysis in a rigorous and systematic way. In addition, I provide an illustration of the application of this framework by drawing on the case of sustainable cement. This paper contributes to innovation literature by explicitly lifting up the role of institutions in the conceptualization of innovation process, and by adding an operational framework as a useful tool for systematically analyzing institutional influence on innovation process.