UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL LEVEL FACTORS OF INNOVATION Innovative Behaviors and Learning

Innovation Value Chain Inputs Resources devoted to innovation effort. Processes Transformation of inputs into outputs. Outputs Qualitative results of innovation efforts. Value created for company. Outcomes Quantitative results of innovation efforts. Value created for market.

Creating Return on Innovation Innovation Facilitators Leadership Innovation Strategy Vision Champion Tolerance for failure Strategic Assets Input, Process, Channel, Customer and Market Knowledge Assets People Innovation Champions Skills & Competencies Intrapreneurs Organization Culture Values Norms Commitment Resources Compensation Intellectual Capital Financial Time Space Innovation Performance New or altered products, services, processes, systems, organizational structures, or business models. Return on Innovation Business Results Growth Profits Increased Margins Market Results Market capitalization Market growth Innovation Behaviors Management Practices Formal Innovation Processes Unstructured Innovation Processes Collaborative Innovation Processes Knowledge Processes Capture of existing internal and external knowledge Creation of new knowledge Dissemination and sharing of knowledge Innovative Barriers Mindset Not-invented-here Nothing-is-invented-here Shortage of resources Organizational bureaucracy Lack of motivation SOCIETAL FACTORS Society / Culture Historical Context REGULATORY FACTORS Government & Social policies ECONOMIC FACTORS Technology Intellectual Resources Strategic Partners National Context

The Role of the Individual Innovation happens because people do certain things, behave in certain ways. Innovation requires people to learn something new and unlearn what they believe they know. How does this happen?

Innovative Behaviors? Understanding of innovative behavior remains underdeveloped (Wolfe 1994). The contributions thus far include: innovative behavior at the firm level – what does the company have to accomplish to achieve competitive advantage through innovation. innovative behaviors of consumers, what do consumers “do” that is unusual, unexpected, and unorthodox, and enables or drives corporate innovation. alignment between strategy and structure to facilitate innovative behavior. determinants of innovative behavior – such as leadership and reward systems, or creating a culture to support innovative behavior. differentiation between facilitators and inhibitors of innovative behavior.

Innovative Work Behaviors West and Farr (190, p.9): the intentional introduction and application within a role, group or organization of ideas, processes, products or procedures. …from Janssen (2000, p.299): this definition restricts innovative behavior to intentional efforts to provide beneficially novel outcomes. Scott and Bruce (1994): innovative work behavior is assumed to be a multi-stage process, covering both the creativity and implementation components

Three tasks of innovative work behavior: Scott, S.U. & R.A. Bruce Determinants of Innovative Behavior: A Path Model of Individual Innovation in the Workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 37: Idea generation: formulation of new ideas of any sort, which are benefical to organizational conduct (Woodman, Sawyer and Griffin, 1993) 2. Idea promotion: capitalizing on ideas generated by finding sponsors and allies with the necessary influence and authority (Kanter, 1983, 1988) 3. Idea realization: the production of a prototype or model of innovation…that can be touched or experienced, that can now be diffused, mass- produced, turned to productive use, or institutionalized (Kanter, 1988, p.191)

Innovating versus Innovation Goedhuys et al (2008) differentiate between innovative behavior and innovation offering that, “innovative behavior is influenced by the firm's internal capacities while innovation affects firms' profitability, survival, and employment“.

INNOVATION AS A LEARNING PROCESS

Innovation as a learning process Innovation is the creation of a solution to a problem. Innovation requires knowledge. Learning is the process of acquiring and/or creating knowledge.

INNOVATION PROCESS & IDEATION (Davila et al, 2006: p.125) Generation of Ideas Radical Innovation Incremental Innovation Selection Execution Creation Of Value Generation of Ideas Generation of Ideas Product, Service and/or Process Innovation

Knowledge position Innovation position Product/Market Position What innovation position can we execute given what we know? What knowledge is needed to support our innovation position? Given what we know what product/market position can we execute? What do we need to know to execute our product/market position? What innovation position should we pursue given our product/market position? Given our innovation position, what product/market position make the most sense? Knowledge, Learning & Innovation McDonough, E., M.E.Zack, H.Lin & I. Berdrow “Integrating Innovation Style and Knowledge into Strategy. MIT Sloan Management Review, 50(1), pp

How do organizations learn? (Davila et al, 2006) Learning to act – Can we improve things we are already doing? Incremental improvement of current actions. Learning to learn – how do we create, acquire, adapt and disseminate knowledge? Are we good at it? Questioning current actions and seeking new opportunities.

Symptoms of learning disability Disbelief in effectiveness of innovation Accidental rather than strategic execution of innovation projects Focus solely on incremental innovation Lack of investment in innovation

TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE Explicit – what can be codified, stored and retrieved Tacit – intuitive, not well-articulated, needs to be interpreted to be expressed

Where does knowledge reside? Individuals – vision, experience, images, metaphors Groups – shared meaning, language, conversation Organizations – routines, systems, rules and procedures, artifacts

Organizational Learning As a Dynamic Process ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND STRATEGIC RENEWAL by Mary M Crossan; Iris Berdrow, Strategic Management Journal; Nov 2003; 24, 11; pg. 1087

Making it work: Make learning a strategic issue. Hire the right people. Provide the right environment. Engage in unlearning as well as learning. Remove barriers to learning. Monitor progress and learn some more!