Creating an organizational culture of innovation: case studies of Japanese multinational companies in Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the predominant factors that lead to being an innovative organization from the employees' perspective in Japanese multinational companies (MNCs) in Thailand. The study employed qualitative case study approach utilizing semi-structured interviews and a focus group, and involved nine participants from five different Japanese MNCs operating in Thailand. The study found that learning and development, participative decision-making, communication and tolerance towards conflict and risks, kaizen (continuous improvement) and leadership were the main factors in promoting innovation in organizations.

Product Innovation: Impact of Organizational Culture in Product Innovation

“…Creativity and innovation are closely associated, but they are not the same thing. Some organisations can generate a lot of ideas but cannot put the ideas into action (Hussey 1997) (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). Creativity is defined in terms of originality (Mascarenhas 2011)(Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014) whereas innovation consists of transforming a new idea into a new product, process or service, which leads to gaining profit on the part of business enterprises (Kuniyoshi, John, and Tadao 1988) (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014).…”

“…Some organisations can generate a lot of ideas but cannot put the ideas into action (Hussey 1997) (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). Creativity is defined in terms of originality (Mascarenhas 2011)(Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014) whereas innovation consists of transforming a new idea into a new product, process or service, which leads to gaining profit on the part of business enterprises (Kuniyoshi, John, and Tadao 1988) (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). Innovation can imply high initial and continuous investments, risks, and uncertainty, the benefits such as differentiation from competition, customer loyalty, price premiums for innovative products, and entry barriers for potential imitators generally seem to outweigh the costs (Rosenbusch, Brinckmann, & Bausch, 2011).…”

“…The study of the predominant factors leading to innovation in Japanese MNCs found that organisational culture has an impact on organisational innovation (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). Organizational culture is an abstract concept and therefore difficult to understand.…”

“…Most cultural aspects still demonstrate a strong and lasting impact on the tendency to innovate at the national level (Efrat, 2014). Organizational culture is one of the critical factors that foster or inhibit creativity and innovation within the organisation (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). According to (Tushman, 1997), Organizational culture is at the core of innovation.…”

“…(Ahmed, 1998) (Webster & White, 2010)Organisational culture can be conceptualised and quantified in terms of the widely shared and strongly held values of a firm's employees. An organizational culture that supports creativity and innovation could be developed through the use of HR intervention such as employee involvement and learning and development (Satsomboon & Pruetipibultham, 2014). Further, they highlighted the important implications for managerial practices, and their study establishes that the successful implementation of a culture of innovation requires that leaders should play a key role in this process.…”