The management of innovation: strategy, structure, and organizational climate

Abstract

Some of the factors that differentiate innovative and less innovative companies are investigated. The companies that have won the Canada Awards for Business Excellence Program for invention and innovation in the past six years are compared to similar groups of companies. The study focuses on the differences in managerial strategy, organizational structure, and organizational climate. The results show that the innovative companies use, or have, more of the following than the less innovative ones: calculated risk taking, management commitment to entrepreneurial activities and innovation, integration and intermingling of talents in teams and task forces, group and collective orientation, and a reward system that reinforces entrepreneurial behavior.