The Influence of Hierarchy on Idea Generation and Selection in the Innovation Process
In: Organization Science, Forthcoming
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In: Organization Science, Forthcoming
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SSRN
In: Organization science, Band 28, Heft 4, S. 653-669
ISSN: 1526-5455
The link between organizational structure and innovation has been a longstanding interest of organizational scholars, yet the exact nature of the relationship has not been clearly established. Drawing on the behavioral theory of the firm, we take a process view and examine how hierarchy of authority—a fundamental element of organizational structure reflecting degree of managerial oversight—differentially influences behavior and performance in the idea generation versus idea selection phases of the innovation process. Using a multimethod approach that includes a field study and a lab experiment, we find that hierarchy of authority is detrimental to the idea generation phase of innovation, but that hierarchy can be beneficial during the screening or selection phase of innovation. We also identify a behavioral mechanism underlying the effect of hierarchy of authority on selection performance and propose that selection is a critical organizational capability that can be strategically developed and managed through organizational design. Our investigation helps clarify the theoretical relationship between structure and innovation performance and demonstrates the behavioral and economic consequences of organizational design choice.The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2017.1142 .
In: International journal of innovation: IJI journal, Band 9, Heft 3, S. 474-495
ISSN: 2318-9975
Objective of the study: The objectives of this study were to describe the strategy and the innovation results from an idea generation program (IGP) of a Brazilian bank.Methodology: The study is predominantly descriptive; the method is the in-depth case study, and the data analysis was performed through content analysis.Originality/Relevance: The IGP's implementation stage is critical due to the need for financial resources, people, and time. An IGP can generate not only incremental technological innovations but also boost the innovation culture. Innovations developed from an IGP can be effective in facing competition from fintechs and digital transformation.Main results: The IGP's strategy is well-founded, as the result of 14 years of experience. However, there is still no clear strategy for measuring the impact of the implemented innovations. The IGP boosted both incremental technological (product, services, and process) and innovation culture. It has generated financial and non-financial results, and it predominantly follows the eastern model, recognizing employees' ideas with non-financial rewards.Theoretical/methodological contributions: An IGP is designable in three main stages: ideation, in which all employees can participate, giving ideas for solving the problems indicated by the boards; selection, when a selection board chooses the ideas with the most significant potential for implementation and generating results; and implementation, when the selected ideas are transformed into innovations.Social /management contributions: A bank's idea generation program is effective to boost technological innovation and innovation culture, which allow to face the fintechs and other essential players in the financial market, as well as to promote internal engagement and manage digital transformation, and deal with the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) scenario.
In: Research Policy, Band 45, Heft 8, S. 1660-1671
In: CoDesign, Band 2, Heft 3, S. 125-138
ISSN: 1745-3755
In: Production and Operations Management (2017)
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In: The leadership quarterly: an international journal of political, social and behavioral science, Band 15, Heft 1, S. 123-143
In: Organization science
ISSN: 1526-5455
Despite women having made significant progress in the modern workforce, gender gaps are still evident in creative work. In this paper, we propose that, although women and men are equally capable of generating creative ideas, gender differences emerge during the idea-selection stage. Specifically, compared with men, women engage in higher novelty avoidance during idea selection—the degree to which one selects an idea that is less novel than the most novel idea one has generated. In two laboratory studies and a field survey involving creative professionals, we found significant gender differences in novelty avoidance during idea selection and identified women's concerns about social backlash when pursuing highly novel ideas as one explanatory variable. We also experimentally manipulated gender compositions of the evaluation panel and found that women's novelty avoidance tendency during idea selection was reduced when they were informed about the presence of women evaluators. Finally, novelty avoidance during idea selection has an inverted U-shaped relationship with idea success; because women tend to engage in higher novelty avoidance than men, novelty avoidance in women (but not men) has a negative impact on the success of their ideas. By examining gender dynamics at specific stages, our work offers theoretical and practical insights regarding gender disparities in creative work. Funding: M. Jin extends appreciation to the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72202003, 72091314, 72172006] for financial support. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the Singapore Ministry of Education's Social Science Research Thematic Grant [Grant MOE2017-SSRTG-042]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.16176 .
In: Small group research: an international journal of theory, investigation, and application, Band 39, Heft 5, S. 523-541
ISSN: 1552-8278
This study examined the effects of training and sequence of nominal and interactive groups on idea generation. Participants in groups of three or four were either trained in idea generation skills or were simply engaged in an equivalent amount of practice. They subsequently were asked to brainstorm in either an alone-to-group or a group-to-alone sequence. Training had a significant positive effect on the total number of ideas generated and average originality of ideas generated. The participants in the alone-to-group sequence generated a larger number of ideas than those in the group-to-alone sequence. These results indicate that training can increase both the quality and quantity of ideas generated in groups and that solitary idea generation prior to group brainstorming can be beneficial. These findings may be helpful to practitioners in enhancing the creativity of individuals in group work.
In: Medii i komunikacii na 21 vek, Band 6, Heft 1, S. 54-67
ISSN: 2603-3801
The current text examines the attempts at imposing innovation journalism in media practice as an independent journalistic beat. It is an example of how academic efforts could be harnessed for legitimization of a qualitatively new kind of journalism. However, some factors opposed the efforts of scientists and practitioners who strongly supported the idea, and therefore innovation journalism, for which a new scientific field was formed in the first decade of the 21st century, has frozen between the idea and the realization.
Klappentext: Technische 'Revolutionen', neue Schlüsseltechniken prägen die Lebenserfahrungen insbesondere der jeweils heranwachsenden Generationen. Diese bleibenden Jugenderinnerungen formen den Umgang mit allen späteren technischen Neuerungen: Beurteilungsmaßstäbe, Bedienungskompetenz, Aneignungsbereitschaft. Anhand vielfältigen empirischen Materials beschreiben die Autoren vier 'Technikgenerationen' dieses Jahrhunderts. Sie befassen sich mit Alters- und Geschlechtsdifferenzen, mit der Weiterbildung sowie mit den Unterschieden zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschen. Ein Ergebnis: Die Einführung des Computers hat den Abstand zwischen den Generationen vergrößert, aber die älteren holen auf.
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Working paper
In: NOvation - Critical Studies of Innovation, Heft 1, S. 18-40
From its obscure origins in management theory, disruptive innovation has become one of the concepts used to describe how networked digital technologies and platforms transform industries and institutions. In this paper, I will examine how contested, and at times incommensurable, iterations of disruptive innovation share a similar idea of technology. Drawing upon discourses of disruptive innovation from management theory, institutional policies, and popular culture reveals a shared idea of technology whose characteristics include a reified idea of technology and a horizon of expectations in which fear of falling behind influences ideas about technological change.