W11.2: Innovation

Question 1

What is innovation?

Answer 1

A more specialized kind of change - a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process, or services.

Question 2

What are the sources of innovation?

Answer 2

1. ORGANIC STRUCTURE: Organic structures positively influence innovation.
2. REWARDS: Innovation-contingent rewards positively influence integration.
3. SCARCITY: Innovation is nurtured when there are slack resources.
4. COMMUNICATION: Inter-unit communication is high in innovative organizations.
5. TENURE: Long tenure in management is associated with innovation. Managerial tenure apparently provides legitimacy and knowledge of how to accomplish tasks and obtain desired outcomes.

Question 3

What is the culture of an innovative organization?

Answer 3

1. They encourage experimentation.
2. They reward both successes and failures.
3. Actively promote the training and development of their members so they keep current.
4. Offer high job security so employees don’t fear getting fired for making mistakes.
5. Encourage individuals to become champions of change.

Question 4

What is a learning organization and what are the characteristics of a learning organization?

Answer 4

1. Shared vision
2. Discard their old ways of thinking and the standard routines they use for solving problems or doing their jobs.
3. Members think of all organizational processes, activities, functions, and interactions with the environment as part of a system of interrelationships.
4. Open communication (across vertical and horizontal boundaries) without fear of criticism or punishment.
5. Break down barriers: People sublimate their personal self-interest and fragmented departmental interests to work together to achieve the organization’s shared vision.

Question 5

What can organizations do to create a learning organization?

Answer 5

Establish a strategy.
Redesign the organization’s structure.
Reshape the organization’s culture.