Dissertationen zum Thema „Innovation impact“

Purpose. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to identify and describe the extent to which individual or team workspace contributes to innovation in an organizational setting as perceived by knowledge workers in California. In addition, the purpose was to identify stimulators and barriers in the physical workspace on innovation. A literature review revealed the importance of creativity and innovation in organizations. Gaps in the literature between workspace and innovation were examined and perspectives on the combination of workspace design and innovation were assessed.

Methodology. This mixed-method research design combined two methods, surveys and interviews, in a sequential manner. First, the quantitative component (surveys) was administered via a 53- question online survey. The results of the quantitative survey guided the qualitative interviews by prioritizing data and themes. The population for the study included full-time knowledge workers in California.

Findings: Respondents identified core dimensions within the Situational Outlook Questionnaire that led to innovation and creativity in the workspace environment. To further expand respondents acknowledged individual and team workspace factors that led to more innovative outcomes. Within the individual workspace technology surfaced as a primary driver of innovation. When asked about team workspace respondents were more constructive indicating concern over noise and interruptions. Additionally, the study asked about stimulators and barriers to innovation within the workspace. Stimulators included placement of staff within close proximity to key team members, design that encourages trust, and inspiring décor that awakens creativity. Lastly, barriers to innovation in the workspace included status quo mentality, decreasing square footage from individual workspace, and concerns with open space design.

Recommendations for Action: The author offers several recommendations for action including: optimize the right level of playfulness to drive innovation; avoid workspace fads and focus on workspace intent; add pulse surveys about employee workspace to drive design strategies that compliment innovation objectives; consider new ways of assigning space by giving thought to the requirements for the worker instead of seniority within an organization; adopt policies to reduce noise and utilize space more purposefully; lastly, the researcher introduces a new model to use when planning workspace that drives innovation.

Understanding the attitudes and attributes of innovators is crucial given the gatekeeper roles these individuals or organizations play in enabling innovation diffusion to occur. But what do innovators look like, and are their characteristics the same regardless of the type of innovation being adopted?

This case study of sought to understand the experience of the Pulaski Academy football program during the 2003 season as it acted as an innovator in adopting several radical innovations. The study provides a detailed case narrative that relies upon 25 existing text, audio, and video artifacts as well as 12 semi-structured interviews with program participants that included coaches, players and administrators, which were part of the 2003 Pulaski Academy football program.

The findings of this study suggest that the innovations Pulaski adopted were radical in nature as defined by Henderson & Clark (1990) and did have an impact on the attributes required to be an innovator. Further, these attributes differed in several instances from what Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations theory posits. The study showed that team’s improved performance was the result of the adoption of a single radiation innovation, the no punting philosophy, but rather a combination of the adoption of several of the innovations and the leadership style of the head coach. The results of the case study confirmed Rogers’ (2003) and Goss’ (1979) assertion that unintended consequences occur with adoption. This particular case demonstrated that one of the unintended consequences of becoming an innovator is that the innovator status opens up additional and early access to other innovations.

These findings point to several recommendations for researchers, including: seeking to understand what innovator characteristics are unique for other innovation types noted in Henderson and Clark’s typology, testing the findings of this case in other social contexts, and evaluating the role the other unintended consequences noted in the study had in contributing to the Pulaski’s success. For practitioners, the findings suggest possible leadership core competencies needed to facilitate innovation adoption and a caution to avoid the temptation to look for a silver bullet when attempting to help an organization be more innovative.

Innovation in postsecondary education has become an important element of the landscape in order for institutions to remain competitive and, for some, as a means to survive (Selingo, 2013, p. 58). Small colleges and universities have experienced a more significant impact than most higher education institutions in attempting to remain competitive and promote innovation as they continue to deal with the aftermath of the 2001 and 2008 recessions and keep pace with the challenges of enrollment and finance. If small colleges are faced with the inability to create new and innovative delivery and business models, there is a danger that many of these small colleges will cease to exist (Crow, 2010; Rivard, 2013).

The primary purpose of this study was to explore how two small colleges adopted innovative strategies that maintained or improved their fiscal strength during a time when most small colleges were experiencing financial decline. How these innovative cultures have been supported at these small colleges, and their relation to the strategies employed, is also explored in this study. The overarching research question for this study was, “To what extent can small colleges develop a culture that supports innovation and positively influences the financial stability of the institutions?

The findings of this study include innovative strategies used at each institution to impact fiscal strength, and elements that have been established to support a culture of innovation in addition to the way in which innovation has improved the student experience. Ultimately, the examples of innovative strategies implemented at these institutions, such as responding to student and market demands, having an innovative mission and vision and ensuring innovative individuals are leading the institution, could turn into sustainable solutions for other small colleges that may be struggling with student enrollment and revenue decline. The elements of innovative cultures that were discovered in this study could be used as a “best practices” list for other small colleges in their quest to develop and sustain an innovative culture.

Innovation is essential for organizational survival and effectiveness and often requires a balance between managing existing competencies, skills, and resources, and pursuing newer and radical aspirations. Organizational leaders play an important role in fostering innovation in the workplace and striking a unique equilibrium between these competing priorities to maximize individual creativity and organizational innovation outcomes. By employing path analyses, this study examined the relationship between two leadership styles—transformational leadership (TFL) and leader-member exchange (LMX) and two forms of organizational innovation (exploration and exploitation). The study also investigated the role that individual and organizational variables played in explaining the leadership-innovation relationship.

Results suggested positive but non-significant relationships between leadership styles and organizational innovation due to the high correlations and overlap between the two leadership styles. Follower autonomy was positively and significantly related to exploration innovation. When analyzed separately, positive and significant associations were found for both leadership styles and organizational innovation. Results of this study suggest the equal importance of transformational and relational styles of leadership towards fostering both forms of organizational innovation. In particular, organizational support for innovation was found to mediate the leadership-innovation relationship, suggesting the importance of social mechanisms in translating the effects of leadership into innovation outcomes for the organization.

The goal of this thesis was to study the impact of national culture on the diffusion process of innovation. The study was conducted on consumers in two countries of Sweden and Iran who have significant cultural differences based on Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions model. A questionnaire designed to evaluate the tendency to adopt new products and to imitate was completed by 200 people in each of two respective countries. These participants were well distributed across different genders and age groups. The responses obtained were analyzed to evaluate the impact of culture on adoption of innovation as well as on imitation. In addition, the role of gender on the adoption of new product as well as on imitation was investigated.

The analysis of the data obtained in this study clearly indicates that national culture plays a significant role on the diffusion process of innovation. These results show that the tendency to adopt new products in the Swedish culture is higher than that in the Iranian culture. In other words one can conclude that the tendency to adopt new products in countries with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, individualistic, and short term orientation culture is higher than in countries with high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, collective, and long term orientation culture.

The results of this research also demonstrate that gender also plays an important role in the adoption of new products. These results indicate that the tendency to adopt new product by males in both Sweden and Iran is higher than the tendency to adopt new products by their female counter parts. In other words in both feminine and masculine cultures males have more tendencies to adopt new products than females.

The analysis of the data obtained in this study indicates that national culture plays a significant role on the degree of imitation. These results show that the tendency to imitate in Iranian culture is higher than in the Swedish culture. In other words the tendency to imitate in countries with high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, collective, and long term orientation culture is higher than the tendency to imitate in countries with low power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, individualistic, and short term orientation culture.

In addition, the results of this research show that gender also plays an important role in the extent of imitation. These results suggest that the tendency to imitate by females in both Sweden and Iran is higher than the tendency to imitate by their male counter parts. In other words in both feminine and masculine cultures females have more tendencies to imitate than males.