HC4-building the innovative organization Flashcards
7 components of the innovative organization
- Leadership, shared vision and the will to innovate
- appropriate structure: not senior management (alone), the innovator does not have to be the CEO.
- Broad vision, not detailed strategy. external focus
- Organizational climate: creative, the climate needs to be innovative. Linked to persons and to the history of the organization, if the company was bankrupt once, it will not be very risky again.
- Key individuals
- Effective teamworking
- high involvement innovation
shared vision, leadership and the will to innovate
The contingency approach to leadership:
- Effectiveness of different styles of leadership will depend on the context
- Task behaviour (guidance and direction)
- Relationship behaviour (support and teams)
- Maturity of followers: ability and willingness of people to define and take responsibility for
their own task behaviour
appropriate organizational structure
Organizational structures are influenced by the nature of tasks to be performed within the
organization: the less programmed and more uncertain the tasks, the greater the need for flexibility around the structuring of relationships. ‘Organic’ organisations are suitable to conditions of rapid change. ‘Mechanistic’ organizations are more suited to stable conditions. The contingency model
argues that there is no single ‘best’ structure, but that successful organizations tend to be those
which develop the most suitable fit between structure and operating contingencies.
Mintzberg’s 6 archetypes
- Simple structure: Centrally controlled, can quickly respond to changes in the environment, vulnerable to individual misjudgement and resource limits on growth.
- Machine bureaucracy: Centralized mechanistic organization, can handle complex integrated processes, have the potential for alienation of individuals and build-up of rigidities.
- Divisionalized form: Designed to adapt to local environmental challenges, specialization into
semi-independent units, able to attack particular niches while drawing on central support, internal frictions between divisions and centre. - Professional bureaucracy: Decentralized mechanistic form, high levels of professional skill
and autonomy, ability to bring teams together. - Adhocracy: Project type organization designed to deal with instability and complexity, high levels of individual skill and cooperation, can cope with high levels of uncertainty, conflicts impede cooperation, lack of control due to lack of formal structures and standards.
- Mission oriented: Shared common values, high commitment and ability to take initiatives, lack of control and formal sanctions.
4 key individuals
environment must have enabling and motivating conditions:
- Inventor: possesses critical technical knowledge.
- Champion: provides inspiration and motivation when commitment is low.
- Entrepreneur: Are people who are between inevtors and market. See the potential of the idea.
- Gatekeeper: collecting information from various sources and passing it on to the relevant people who will be best able or most interested to use it.
stages of HII (5)
-Stage 1 – Unconscious HII: problem-solving random, no formal efforts or structure, dominant mode of problem solving is by specialists, short-term benefits, no strategic impact.
-Stage 2 – Structured HII: formal attempts to create and sustain HII, use of a formal problem- solving process, use of participation, training in basic HII tools, structured idea management system, recognition system, often parallel system to operations.
Stage 3 – Goal-oriented HII: all of the above, plus formal deployment of strategic goals, monitoring and measurement of HII against these goals.
Stage 4 – Proactive/empowered HII: all of the above, plus responsibility for mechanisms, timing and so on devolved to problem-solving unit; internally directed rather than externally directed HII, high levels of experimentation.
-Stage 5 – Full HII capacity: HII as the dominant way of life, automatic capture of learning, everyone actively involved in innovation process, incremental and radical innovation
key elements in effective high-performance team working include: (12)
1 A clear, common and elevating goal
2 Results-driven structure
3 Competent team members
4 Unified commitment
5 Collaborative climate
6 Standards of excellence
7 External support and recognition
8 Principled leadership
9 Appropriate use of the team
10 Participation in decision making
11 Team spirit
12 Embracing appropriate change
7 risks of team work
1 Group think: restricts interpretation and response, homogeneity limits innovation
2 Siege mentality: group versus organization goals, commitment to sub-unit versus
organization
3 Means versus ends: attachment to social system, not course of action
4 Group versus teams
5 Structured freedom: finding the right balance between structure, authority and boundaries –
and freedom, autonomy and initiative.
6 Support structures and systems
7 Assumed competence
climate
the recurring patterns of behaviour, attitudes and feelings that characterize life in the organization.
culture
refers to the deeper and more enduring values, norms and beliefs within the organization
4 differences climate/culture
- Different levels of analysis: culture focuses on the entire organization, climate can refer to
individuals, groups or divisions as well. - Different disciplines are involved: culture is in the domain of anthropology, climate in social
psychology. - Normative versus descriptive: culture is relatively descriptive, climate normative
- More easily observable and influenced: culture is more observable and amenable to change
than climate.
6 characteristics innovative climate
- Trust and openness: if there is a strong level of trust, everyone in the organization dares to put forward ideas and opinions.
- Challenge and involvement: high levels of challenge and involvement mean that people are
intrinsically motivated and committed to making contributions to the success of the organization. - Support and space for ideas: with high idea-times possibilities exist to discuss and test impulses and fresh suggestions that are not planned or included in the task assignment and people tend to use these possibilities.
- Conflict and debate: if the level of conflict is too high, the climate can be characterized as ‘warfare’; if the level of conflict is too low, individuals lack signs of motivation or are not interested in their tasks. If the level of debate is too low, only complain instead of work to improve the situation; if the level of debate is too high, there is more talking than implementation.
- Risk taking: in a high risk-taking climate, bold new initiatives can be taken even when the outcomes are unknown. In a risk-avoiding climate, there is a cautious and hesitant mentality, and confusion as there are too many ideas floating around while few are sanctioned.
- Freedom: with high freedom people are given autonomy to define much of their own work,
with little freedom people work within strict guidelines and roles and there is little initiative
for doing things in a better way.
Measuring innovation with (s)pot framework.
Strategy
P-innovation processes:
- Performance measurement
- Structured process mapping and analysis
- Quality management and continuous improvement
- Systematic project reviews
o- organization for innovation
- Re-organisation to reduce interfaces and handovers
- Cross-functional teams, or cross-training specialists
- Rewarding team performance
- Strengthening the role of project managers
- Involvement of suppliers and customers
T-tools and technologies to support innovation
- Tools e.g. QFD, Taguchi, lead-users
- Technologies e.g. Groupware to encourage communication and knowledge sharing, electronic databases for knowledge storage and distribution, electronic data interchange with suppliers and customers
