Mario N. Acebo
Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Argentina
E-mail: nicoacebo@live.com.ar
Leandro A. Viltard
Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, Argentina
Graduate School-Universidad de Palermo, Argentina
Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Argentina
Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina
Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina
Universidad del Pacífico, Ecuador
Universidad de San Isidro, Argentina
E-mail: lviltard@yahoo.com.ar
Submission: 17/09/2017
Revision: 06/03/2018
Accept: 15/03/2018
ABSTRACT
The
continual and increasingly accelerated changes in the market -boosted by
structural processes such as globalization, the opening of markets and the
growing customers’ demand- constantly raises the competitive requirements that
companies must face. Likewise, the uncertainties, risks and threats that this
context poses urge firms to seek new strategies in order to survive and
succeed. In this search, innovation emerges as a key tool, capable of boosting
and maintaining levels of competitiveness. The main hypothesis of this work is
that the development of an appropriate business culture is a valid alternative
to stimulate innovative performance within companies. One of the fundamental
conclusions of this study is that those companies which have not yet found a
way to develop innovation have a disadvantage compared to others in the world.
That is why it is necessary to develop entrepreneurial cultures that favor the
creation and commercial exploitation of novel ideas capable of generating
sustainable competitive advantages. As a result, leaders must take the responsibility of
setting new behaviors and managerial practices. The study is
exploratory-descriptive, with a qualitative methodology. It was based on the
bibliographical revision of specialists on the subject.
Keywords: Innovation;
Creativity; Competitive advantage; Corporate culture; Leadership
1. INTRODUCTION
The
present work finds its main motivations in the enormous challenges and
opportunities that the innovation poses as a source of companies’ competitive
advantage, taking into account the following factors:
·
The permanent link between innovation and business,
from the practical application to the commercial exploitation of ideas.
·
The importance of corporate culture as a determinant
of innovation within companies.
·
The creative capacity that -to a greater or lesser
extent- is present in every person, as well as the managers' interest in
exploiting it.
·
The growing customer’s demand for new goods and
services.
·
The permanent search for corporate efficiency.
The
scope of this research included the study of corporate innovation’s importance
and the corporate culture as its determinant.
According
to Solleiro and Castañón (2002), the worldwide productive and socioeconomic
transformations -that occur as a result of the competitive intensification-
have generated the need for new methodological approaches to understand and
boost competitiveness.
They
point out that the traditional model -based on comparative advantages, in which
countries and their economic units allocate their resources to the production
of those goods and services in which they have some kind of advantage- has lost
support, giving way to one based on competitive advantages, dynamically created
through business strategies and actions, public policies and
inter-institutional relationships that seek to optimize value creation.
In this way and in order to gain consumers’ trust, the
context forces companies to differentiate from their competitors by offering
products and services that provide novel and imaginative answers to their
demands. Within this environment, Damanpour and Gopalakrishnan (2001) affirm
that innovation is positioned as the key to developing sustainable competitive
advantages, thanks to the flexibility and adaptability to changes that it
offers to companies.
As a
result, numerous investigations have focused on the study and understanding of
innovation, as well as on factors influencing the innovative capacity of
enterprises. Scorsa and Valls (2003) suggest that the importance of innovation
in maintaining and improving competitiveness has aroused such interest in the
field of economy and business management that has allowed to access to an own
space within the academic environment.
On
the other hand and analyzing the factors influencing the corporate innovation
capacity, different authors have generalized the idea that organizational
culture is a key determinant, being able to favor or limit it (CAMERON; QUINN
1999; DAMANPOUR, 1991; NARANJO et al., 2012; NARANJO; CALDERÓN, 2015).
In
this way, the present research seeks to contribute to the identification of
cultural characteristics that favor corporate innovation, with the intention of
listing a series of useful practices in order to develop business culture that
generate competitive advantages through innovation.
The
following questions have allowed deepening in the subject of the present study:
What factors influence business innovation?
How does business culture affect the innovation
development?
How is it possible to develop a business
culture favorable to innovation?
What role do leaders play in culture
development?
The
final objective of this work is to deepen in the understanding of business
culture as a determinant of innovation.
The
hypothesis suggests that the development of an innovative business culture is
the best alternative to stimulate the innovation development.
The
study is exploratory-descriptive, with qualitative methodology. In addition, it
is holistic because it contemplates a wide configuration in which the studied
object is located.
As a
bibliographical research, data collection has involved the study and analysis
of information obtained through relevant secondary sources, mainly
international authors and publications. Through the information analysis, it
has been tried to deepen in the knowledge of the cultural characteristics that
favor the corporate innovative performance.
This
research ranged from June 2016 to August 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2. INNOVATION, CREATIVITY AND CORPORATE CULTURE
Understanding the innovation capacity to generate
competitive advantages can point out the relevance of the subject under study.
Though, in this section it is intended to present a series of concepts that will
help to deepen on the meaning of innovation, its different versions and its
relationship with corporate culture.
2.1.
Innovation
meaning
In its Green Book on Innovation, the
European Commission (1995) refers to innovation as the production, assimilation
and exploitation of a novelty in an economically and socially successful way
which -at the same time- gives unpublished solutions to problems and answer to
the needs of people and society.
From a closer perspective to the
business environment, the Oslo Manual (2005) considers that innovation is
referred to a product improvement (good or service), or to processes, workplace
organization or methods within a company, and/or the external relations. In
this way, it distinguishes the following four types of innovation:
·
Product innovation: It covers the introduction of a new or significantly improved good or
service in terms of its characteristics or possibilities of use.
·
Process innovation: refers to the introduction of a new or better method of production or
distribution. It includes improvements in techniques, equipment or software,
and aims to reduce costs, improve quality or produce/distribute products.
·
Commercial innovation: It includes the application of a novel marketing method, considerably
improving the design or presentation of a product, its positioning, promotion
or price to better satisfy customers’ needs, in order to achieve new markets’
opening or reposition a product in the market.
·
Organizational innovation: Refers to the incorporation of a new method applied to business
practices, the provision of work or the development of external relations to
reduce administrative or supply costs, improve job satisfaction and
productivity, or access to non-tradable assets, such as non-codified external
knowledge.
2.2.
The
importance of innovation
Porter (1989) suggests that successful companies need to
achieve a certain level of competitiveness, developing some kind of advantage
over their competitors.
According to Laudon and Laudon
(2000), this advantage is valued by consumers when -purchasing a good or
requesting a service- they obtain better quality, lower costs, can easily
access it or find some other superior attribute which they had obtained from a
good or service offered by another company. VALDÉS (2004) adds that innovation
allows differentiating a company, modifying customer perception to its benefit.
In addition, Cornejo (2009) remarks that the constant
changes that occur in the global market -where the life cycle of products and
technologies becomes increasingly short- also generate the need to quickly
innovate to be able to adapt to them and subsist.
Thus, as suggested by Goleman et al. (2009), current
competition has favored consumers in their power relationship with companies,
forcing them to be attentive to their preferences. Thus, they say, their
competitive advantage depends on their ability to provide an imaginative
response at the points where they meet their customers.
In this sense, according to Damanpour and Gopalakrshnan (2001),
innovation emerges as the key to developing sustainable competitive advantages,
giving companies flexibility and adaptability to change, and allowing them to
better exploit the opportunities offered by the market.
2.3.
Innovation
and creativity
As Gisbert
(2005) points out, at least in the business world, creative and innovative
processes are often confused in a single process of difficult disassociation.
However, the author warns that while creativity refers to the production of a
new idea, innovation implies its practical application and commercial
exploitation.
However,
in addition to referring to the difference between the two, what is important
-according to Kotler and Trías De Bes (2011) - connects with understanding
their link. In that sense, they insist that often managers believe that their
problem is connected with the lack of employees with creative capacity, and
what they really need are people who have the skills to manage innovation, with
capacities and talents more in relation to the business management, able to realize
and launch the people’s ideas to the market. For this reason, they affirm that
innovation requires creative people, and a clear set of objectives, strategies,
resources, risk and responsibilities.
They
also indicate that innovating does not necessarily imply the creation of a
dazzling new product or service, and that gradual innovation is necessary or
more necessary than the radical one, since it is the one that allows
contributing to a business culture capable of producing and putting on the
market a continuous innovations’ stream.
2.4.
Innovation
determinants: the culture importance
Corporate culture is a key
determinant of innovation. In this sense, Morcillo (2008) states that:
·
The first studies on
innovation considered that the companies with greater resources were those who
had better innovating possibilities. For this reason, both, public policies and
most of the business strategies tried to correct the deficits in innovation
through subsidies and increases in R&D budgets.
·
A second line of opinion emerges
that highlights the capacity of culture as a variable capable of creating the
climate and appropriate spaces for adopting new ideas and technologies, and for
conceiving and developing innovations.
·
As a result, understands that
-although companies have the possibility of learning to
innovate by investing important resources in R&D and incorporating advances
developed by other companies- it will be difficult to achieve -in this way- the
performance of those ones that are innovative in nature and have a culture
designed to promote creativity on an individual, group or organizational level.
In the same sense, Yoguel and Boscherini
(2001) affirm that companies, and especially SMEs, depend -to a great extent-
on their corporate culture in order to generate innovations based on the skills
and knowledge of their staff. Additionally, Naranjo et al. (2012) warn that
business culture, as well as may favor the development of innovation, is also
capable of hindering it, depending on the values and behaviors that are
predominant.
Thus, considering the uncertain
nature of the innovative process - difficult to plan, organize and guide
through formal rules and procedures, Jaskyte and Kisieliene (2006) consider
that the best way to foster it is by forging an innovative organizational
culture.
In the same sense, Rao and Weintraub
(2012) understand that, in general, companies have focused on resources,
processes and measurement of success, neglecting other important determinants
of innovative capacity such as values, behaviors and work climate. While they
consider these factors to be more intangible and difficult to manage, they
argue that they also have great power to build an innovation culture capable of
delivering sustained competitive advantage, as many research and experience
have shown.
The following table highlights the
main concepts of this section:
Table
1: Innovation and its determinants
|
·
Innovation is the
introduction of a new or significantly improved product (good or service), a
process and7or, and a new marketing/organizational method, in the internal
company practices, the organization of the work place or external relations.
EUROSTAT / OECD (2005). ·
Tangible resources are
necessary for innovation development, although they do not constitute a
competitive advantage by themselves. ·
The innovative people
potential represents a source of competitive advantages and it is difficult
to imitate. ·
Innovation
exploitation depends on the organizational culture and other important
determinants like values, behaviors and work climate. |
|
|
3. THE INNOVATIVE BUSINESS CULTURE
Having raised the concept and
importance of innovation, and culture as one of its fundamental determinants,
this section aims to describe the elements that characterize an innovative
business culture.
3.1.
Corporate
culture
Chiavenato
(2009) understands that the organizational culture comes from norms, attitudes,
values and expectations and is connected to habits and beliefs shared by all
members of the organization.
Also,
Cameron and Quinn (1999) relates culture with values, basic assumptions,
expectations, collective memories and definitions present in an organization,
reflecting a dominant ideology among the people who integrate the organization,
while giving them a sense of identity, providing them with guidelines and
improving the stability of the social system. As a consequence, Hofstede and Bond
(1988) argue that the organizational culture carries out two basic functions:
to provide identity and to influence the behavior of company members.
3.2.
Innovative
business culture characteristics
Morcillo (2008) remarks that the conceptualization of an
innovative corporate culture began to take shape in the 1980s, based on the
contributions of authors such as Quinn and Mcgrath (1985), Kanter (1983) and
(1986), who studied the innovation obstacles in management models and ways of
boosting creativity. At the same time, he states that authors such as (1997)
and (1998) began to emphasize the value of culture and work environment as
stimulants of communication and internal information flows, and with the
environment, fundamental for an adequate creative performance.
Gisbert (2005), based on the analysis of ideas and
studies by different authors and companies (ADAIR, 1992; AMABILE, 1998;
ANDREWS, 1996; EKVALL, 1991; EKVALL 1996; EKVALL; RYHAMMAR, 1998; RYHAMMAR
1999; KANTER, 1983; KONDO 1997; MATTHES 1993; RATH; STRONG, 1994), lists a
number of environmental factors that are present in organizations that
permanently stimulate creativity, fostering personal initiative and an entrepreneurial
and innovative spirit. In this way, the author points out that in this type of
companies:
·
Objectives, operations and
tasks are assumed as challenges.
·
People feel free to take
initiatives, seek information and interact with others without the need to
adhere to strict formal communication standards.
·
Employees have freedom to
perform within areas that arouse their interest, which in turn allows the
company to fully exploit their talents and abilities.
·
There is an important
recognition and appreciation for personal development effort and realization of
new projects, supported by a reward system that stimulates the search of
challenges and risks.
·
People listen, are encouraged
to take initiatives and often find support for their new ideas.
·
There is a high level of
confidence which facilitates the exposure of ideas and opinions, and reduces
the fear of reprisals in front of failure.
·
Uncertainty is tolerated and
staff is prepared to take risks and seize the opportunities that emerge.
·
There is a communication
system that facilitates information flow and encourages people to help each
other in the resolution of specific problems.
·
Power centers are often
created with some budgetary flexibility to support new proposals.
·
In addition to material
support, the time allocated to creative activity is very important.
·
There is a relaxed and
humorous atmosphere that increases the level of satisfaction of people with
their work and facilitates the flow of creativity.
On
the other hand, (2010), cited in and (2015), also enumerates a series of
characteristics that different authors consider habitual in companies with an
innovative organizational culture, as follows:
Table
2: Characteristics of cultures that favor innovation
|
Características |
Autores |
|
Creativity, autonomy, entrepreneurship. |
Wallach (1983),
Shrivastava y Souder (1987), Claver et al. (1998),
Schneider et al. (1994), (Canalejo,
1995), Martins y Terblanche (2003), McLean (2005),
Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Freedom, autonomy |
Shrivastava y Souder (1987),
Ahmed (1998),
Arad et al. (1997), Martins y Terblanche (2003),
McLean (2005),
Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Risk taking |
Wallach (1983) ,
Claver et al. (1998),
Martins y Terblanche (2003),
McLean (2005),
Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Team building |
Canalejo (1995),
Arad et al. (1997), Martins y Terblanche (2003),
McLean (2005),
Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Resources sufficiency |
Ahmed (1998), McLean (2005), Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Strategic customer focus |
Canalejo (1995),
Martins y Terblanche (2003),
McLean (2005),
Jamrog et al. (2006) |
|
Decision taking |
Martins y Terblanche (2003), McLean (2005) |
|
Workers participation |
Claver et al. (1998),
McLean (2005) |
|
Continuos learning |
Canalejo (Canalejo, 1995)
Martins y Terblanche (2003) |
|
Flexibility |
Arad et al. (1997),
Martins y Terblanche (2003) |
Finally, (2011)
understands that innovation culture is a way of thinking and doing,
which is based in values and attitudes that help ideas to arise, and changes to
happen in order to improve efficiency, breaking –if necessary- with the past
and traditions.
3.3.
The development
of an innovative business culture
According to (2001), there is no complete agreement among
the authors on whether it is possible to change -intentionally and in a
relatively short period of time- the culture of a company. In this sense, he suggests
that authors like (1993) understand that cultures are -generally- resistant to
change and especially to those that do not emerge from the group.
However, it also recognizes that cultures change,
sometimes by themselves and -in others- from deliberate interventions. As an
example, he cites the case of leaders such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma
Gandhi who have demonstrated how certain thoughtful efforts are capable of
changing a culture. For this reason, he considers that - because such changes are
possible in a whole society, it is logical to think that they can also be
carried out in smaller areas, such as an organization.
In this way, he insists that a process of change must be
carried out. It should imply the establishment of new goals and the promotion
of a new set of beliefs and ideals among those who integrate the organization.
Also, that the leader plays a fundamental role since it is the one who
constantly transmits the cultural values of the organization through the
daily performance of its functions.
Likewise, Robbins and Judge (2009) suggest that senior
managers are those who, through their words and actions, establish norms
-regarding, for example, the risks likely to be accepted, the level of freedom
granted to subordinates, dress codes, actions that will be rewarded, among
others- that are spread throughout the organization. In this sense, processes
like personnel selection, performance evaluation, rewards, training and
development preserve the culture and give the members a series of similar
experiences.
On the other hand, Naranjo et al. (2012) consider that
the main assets of many companies are the imagination and ideas of their
people, and that those leaders who manage to understand it are able to
transform such creative capacities into much higher competitive advantages.
For this reason, Domingo (2013) affirms that company top
management plays a fundamental role in the development of its innovation
capacity, allowing the initiatives’ development and managing them according to
objectives, metrics and a group of people who have a different profile from
those used in businesses that are already mature, creating -at the same time- a
culture that allows to execute successfully.
In the same direction, Vilá (2010) considers that, rather
than a technical or design problem, the development of innovation is,
primarily, a management challenge in which the application of specific and
inclusive progressive management systems -at every level and making up the
business structure- is a more effective way than the attempt to change people's
thinking. In this way, SCHEIN (1985) indicates that the creation, conduction
and, if necessary, the destruction of culture represent one of the most
decisive functions that a leader must carry out.
3.4.
Executives’
practices in highly innovative companies
Vilá (2010) highlights a series of
effective practices that, in the exercise of their leadership, executives with
great innovative capacity usually adopt. Although it warns that -in each
company- its practical application is not direct and in order to develop an
innovative culture he understands that learning serves to shed some light on
how it is possible to make coherent and predictable the top executives actions.
In more detail, que says that:
·
These leaders are driven by
the desire to pursue a challenge, an ideal or a dream that makes sense to those
who should make it possible. Thus, the managers of these companies seek to
generate an impact on the organization by establishing challenges that attract
everybody’s attention and that, in many cases, are a more effective driver for
innovation than extrinsic motivators, such as remuneration. In this regard, he
mentions leaders such as Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. along with
Stephen Wozniak, who –in the words of the latter- was always interested in
doing things that changed the world. In addition, he raises the case of Akio
Morita and Masaru Ibuka –founders of Sony- who established strong enough
challenges for their product development engineers to launch products like
Trinitron TV and the Walkman, among others.
·
Executives have a clear will
to explore new ways of acting, even in the absence of pressing problems,
accepting unconventional thoughts and solutions. As an example, he mentions the
case of James Dyson –founder of Dyson Ltd., a British technology company- who
progressively moved away from day-to-day business management to devote his time
to creating the perfect innovation environment, passing most of it among the
staff, encouraging people to be creative and to explore the difficult path, and
not the obvious.
·
This predisposition to explore
must be necessarily accompanied by the acceptance of a certain degree of
uncertainty and –as a consequence- of tolerance towards well-intentioned
errors. In addition, argues that highly innovative companies consider that
relevant information, good ideas and initiatives do not necessarily come from
within the company and that, in fact, openness to the outside may be even part
of their formal procedures, encouraging –at the same time- an active
observation capable of identifying business opportunities.
·
Progress towards ambition and
challenging purpose must be made from a flexible posture, having managers a
considerable mental opening, and seeking proactively and humble different
alternatives for development.
·
When employees observe that
top management wants to provide healthy feedback it is easier to appreciate it
as something valuable. In this regard, he mentions the case of Pixar Animation,
where the managers treat their collaborators as equals, the members receive
-from the whole group- good and bad comments about their work, and are
encouraged to participate and give their opinion on the work of others.
·
Like any transformation of the
established order, innovation requires confronting unforeseen events and in
front of them manager’s reaction is a way to show employees about their values
and preferences, which has a huge influence on the culture of the company. In
this way and in innovative companies, senior executives are persistent and show
their support for an initiative, even in the face of dismal initial results.
·
Innovation requires
persistence, highlighting Ikea's motto: "Never Say Never", summing up
a positive self-will, perseverance and determination to achieve goals without
giving up. However, he warns that this persistence is not free of limits and
principles, giving balance and making it viable.
·
Managers of these types of
companies not only have a great confidence in themselves, but also they express
clear signs of confidence towards the entrepreneurial work of their employees.
·
Managers usually are willing
to leave their area of comfort to make innovation possible, even when the
changes affect them on a personal level, affecting their own quality of life.
As an example, when Sony decided to be present and know in person the
particularities of the market of more advanced consumer electronics, Akio
Morita moved -with his family- to live in New York, demonstrating his personal
commitment with the objectives of the company.
3.5.
3M,
an example of innovative culture
According to 3M (2016) they are a global
innovation company whose objective over time has been to improve life for
millions of people around the world, achieving -among other things- an easier
night management, safer buildings and lighter electronic devices, with less
energy consumption and impact on the environment.
In addition and according to the
consulting firm I+C (2016), although several very successful products from 3M
have arisen from special situations, they have not been by chance. For example,
one of its most successful products was born from an employee’s idea; he had
difficulty maintaining the pointers he placed in the chants of his church
choir. Upon discovering glue that didn’t function well and was about to be
discarded by the company, he invented the post-it that firstly was utilized by
the secretaries until –finally- it was released to the market.
Something similar happened with the
masking tape, when an employee observed the difficulties that the workers of a
workshop went through trying to paint the cars in half.
Additionally, the emery cloth (or
sandpaper) arose a few years earlier when 3M exploded mineral deposits and a
person tried to remove the metals’ rust using stones attached to a paper.
I+C argues that these and other
inventions, although they seem to have emerged by chance, actually have a much
deeper foundation, which allows employees to bring their ideas to the company.
In this sense, 3M constantly encourages research, considering it a key factor
for business development. Among its policies are:
·
15% of the time: Long before Google gave its engineers one day a week to develop their own
ideas, 3M allowed its researchers to do the same for 15% of their time.
·
The annual Genesis Grant award: The Company’s scientists can benefit from a $
100,000 prize, in order to follow up projects for which the "conventional
people" of the company would not bet anything.
·
Who has the idea can lead the project: In 3M it is assumed that whoever has the idea is the
one who will put more emphasis on its defense, looking for all the options for
the invention to be successful. In that sense, it is not a matter of passing
the idea to a Research Dept. and not being able to participate in its
development; it is quite the opposite. And even if the idea was not successful,
it implies a greater commitment from the people to continue generating them.
·
Pull branches and then prune: Opening to ideas has been a classic for 3M. Although
many of them get in the way as a result of this process, many innovative ideas
will also have success.
·
The 25% billing rule: In each 3M business unit, at least 25% of billing must come from products
developed in the last 4 years. In this way, the company seeks to maintain a
considerable rhythm of innovation, although it is possible that -in some of its
business units- the current speed of innovation is even higher.
Finally, it is worth noting that -in
2012- 3M invoiced about 30 billion dollars worldwide, operating in more than 70
countries and providing employment to 87,000 employees and 8,200 researchers
(3M, 2016).
The following Table summarizes
fundamental concepts related to the innovative culture mentioned in this
section:
Table
3: The innovative culture
|
·
Innovative
culture: Is based in values,
convictions and attitudes generating improvements/new ideas and changes to
improve company performance, also breaking with traditions (Morcillo, 2007). |
|
·
Characteristics
of an innovative culture:
Freedom, autonomy, support, trust, tolerance to uncertainty, resources
availability, relaxed environment, creativity, risk taking, team building,
participation and learning, among others. |
|
·
Management
role and practices:
Are the most effective way to generate an innovative business culture. ·
Good
management practices in innovative companies: Encourage employees to explore new ideas,
establish challenges, persevere, trust employees, tolerate failure, and take
risks and personal commitment, among others. |
|
|
4. CONCLUSIONS
4.1.
Generalities
The business culture analysis has
been taken as an element capable of fostering innovation and a key factor for
companies that desire to develop advantages which allow them to cope with
actual market competition.
The objective of this study -focused
on deepening in the understanding of entrepreneurial culture as a determinant
factor of company innovation, in order to propose a series of concepts that
constitute an alternative to improve innovative performance - has been
verified. In order to achieve this objective it was performed a study of
innovation, business culture and the managerial role.
Likewise, the hypothesis of this
study has been corroborated. It suggested that the development of an innovative
business culture is the best alternative to stimulate the innovative potential
of companies.
As a corollary of the work
performed, the main findings are presented below, clarifying that they are not
susceptible of being generalized, since a qualitative methodology has been
performed. However, it is proposed that this study can be used as an input for
decision making.
4.2.
Specific
conclusions
The constant changes that occur in
markets, with global impacts, put consumers in a privileged position in their
power relationship with companies, forcing them to remain attentive to their
needs and preferences in order to obtain and maintain their trust .
In companies, this creates the need
to develop competitive advantages by offering products and services of better
quality, lower cost, better availability or with some other attribute superior
to those offered by other companies.
In this context, innovation is shown
as a tool capable of developing the qualities that allows standing out from
competition and obtaining preference from consumers.
While finding a way to be more
innovative may not be a simple task, achieving this objective would mean an
advance with enormous implications in terms of productivity, performance and
employment generation, which would contribute -at the same time- to the
development of the economy and society, in general.
For such purposes, an alternative
may consist in incorporating resources, technology and intangibles developed by
other companies. However, if companies decide to opt for this path, they would
hardly be able to stand out and achieve the results obtained by innovative
companies, where a proper corporate culture supports their innovative
performance.
In this sense, managers should
understand that -while an adequate supply of tangible resources is necessary-
the uncertain nature that characterizes innovation makes to forge an innovative
culture the best way to develop it. In this context, values, behaviors that
promote ideas and changes that break with tradition and allow a better
utilization of the expertise and knowledge of those who integrate the company
are key elements that should be taken into consideration.
However, attempting to directly
modify people's values and beliefs is an extremely complex task, so leaders
should focus on promoting -through their own behavior and the way they carry
out their functions- a set of beliefs and ideals that enhance the innovative
activity. Specifically, managers could:
·
Promote values of openness to
change, flexibility and orientation towards the environment.
·
Promote a conception of
problems as challenges to overcome.
·
Mitigate critical reactions to
new ideas.
·
Cede to its creators a certain
percentage of the profits or savings that the implementation of an innovative
idea has generated during certain time.
·
Challenge employees to
constantly improve product and processes.
·
Promote the exchange of
knowledge, including that obtained from mistakes and failures.
·
Internally disseminate the
positive contributions of employees.
·
Tolerate failure when it
arises and take it as a search for new opportunities and experimentation.
·
Foster a mistake conception as
learning opportunities.
·
Encourage employee training.
·
Organize and systematize
internal training workshops that allow taking advantage of the knowledge and
skills of those who have more seniority and experience, while recognizing and
valuing them.
·
Give awards to the most
outstanding ideas and projects.
As a summary, innovation
represents an important tool capable of generating sustainable competitive
advantage, allowing customer value creation through products, services and
technologies. In this sense, business culture is capable of creating the necessary
conditions to exploit the creativity of people and translate it into
innovations.
For this reason, if the objective
were to subsist and prosper, the development of an innovative organizational
culture should be a priority objective for companies, and especially for those
who lead them.
There is no point in trying to
improve in time firms’ performance if it is not supported by creative ideas
which are transformed into innovative products/services/ technologies that
dazzle in the markets where they act. Innovation becomes a vital objective for
companies and the organizational culture its vehicle.
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