A leader's guide to creating an innovation culture
Abstract
Purpose
Advising top management how to find the right balance between corporate creativity and efficiency in order to turn innovation into commercial reality.
Design/methodology/approach
The author interviewed senior corporate managers and reviewed the literature.
Findings
Inventiveness is required in everything that is done by the company, not just in marketing or in new product development. A key factor in boosting innovativeness is establishing the right organizational climate to nurture the creative potential of employees and make use of their knowledge of customers, competitors, and processes. When leveraging the best innovation practices of other companies look to their philosophy and values.
Research limitations/implications
More interviews and a study to determine long‐term success factors would be advisable.
Practical implications
Key practices: place people and ideas at the heart of management philosophy; give people room to grow, to try and learn from mistakes; build a strong sense of openness and trust and community; and facilitate the internal mobility of talent.
Originality/value
The author advises innovation leaders on steps they can take to strike the right balance between corporate creativity and efficiency.
Keywords
Citation
Leavy, B. (2005), "A leader's guide to creating an innovation culture", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 38-45. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570510608031
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited