Innovation or imitation? The role of organizational culture

Abstract

Purpose -Innovation is crucial for attaining a competitive advantage for companies. Innovation, versus imitation, motivates companies to launch new products and become pioneers on markets. Many factors have been shown to be determinants for supporting an organizational innovative orientation. One of them is organizational culture. The objective of this paper is to analyze the organizational culture that fosters or inhibits organizational innovation and imitation strategy. Design/methodology/approach -The paper uses a sample of 471 Spanish companies for examining the hypotheses. Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, it relates the effect of organizational culture with an innovation strategy. Findings -The results confirm the hypotheses. The paper finds that organizational culture is a clear determinant of innovation strategy. Moreover, adhocracy cultures foster innovation strategies and hierarchical cultures promote imitation cultures.Research limitations/implications -The main limitations are that data in the study were collected from one source for the cross-sectional design of this research. Practical implications -Managers should pay more attention to their organization culture if they pursue innovation/imitation strategies. Moreover, depending on this orientation (to be the first company to introduce in new markets or develop new products for a market versus to follow a pioneer), companies should promote different values and norms in their organizations. Originality/value -The main value of this paper is its analysis and testing of the relation of organizational culture and innovation orientation. The majority of the literature underlines the paper's seeking after organizational culture for innovation. However, this topic has not been studied in depth and requires attention to different organizational cultures and innovation orientations.

Innovation in family firms: an empirical analysis linking organizational and managerial innovation to corporate success

“…Although it has been shown that the organizational culture plays an important role in the way firms innovate (Ç akar and Ertürk 2010;Naranjo-Valencia et al 2011), there is still little research on the relationship between organizational culture and the different types of innovation in the family firm context. Previous research has shown that organizational culture is responsible for the innovativeness of a family firm (e.g., Naranjo-Valencia et al 2011), the management style of its leaders (e.g., Leenen 2005) as well as a less formal and more de-centralized structure (e.g., Craig and Moores 2006). In short, if a family firm wants to grow, be innovative and entrepreneurial, it should (constantly) question itself about whether the culture within the firm as well as the applied leadership style of the entrepreneur is also entrepreneurial (e.g., Blumentritt et al 2005), and if its organizational structure still fits the requirements of a rapidly changing environment.…”

“…It would be especially interesting to understand in greater detail how the organizational culture plays a role in the innovation processes of family firms. Although it has been shown that the organizational culture plays an important role in the way firms innovate (Ç akar and Ertürk 2010;Naranjo-Valencia et al 2011), there is still little research on the relationship between organizational culture and the different types of innovation in the family firm context. Previous research has shown that organizational culture is responsible for the innovativeness of a family firm (e.g., Naranjo-Valencia et al 2011), the management style of its leaders (e.g., Leenen 2005) as well as a less formal and more de-centralized structure (e.g., Craig and Moores 2006).…”

“…As discussed above, the internal and cultural aspects of the firm are central to management innovations. Organizational culture plays an important role in defining the innovativeness of a firm (De Brentani and Kleinschmidt 2004;Naranjo-Valencia et al 2011). On the other hand, family business research has shown that family firms differ in their values and attitudes, objectives, and strategic behavior from nonfamily firms (e.g.…”

Innowacyjność w podmiotach ekonomii społecznej w Polsce. Studium jakościowe

“…Prowadzi to do konkluzji, że kluczową kompetencją organizacji wzmacniającej swoją innowacyjność jest klimat innowacyjny, stwarzający warunki, w których pracownicy chcą i angażują się w takie działania [Burke, Litwin, 1992;Woodman, Sawyer, Griffin, 1993;Ekvall, 1996;Naranjo-Valencia et al, 2011;Wolf, Kaudela-Baum, Meissner, 2012]. Innowacje tworzone są przez ludzi, a proces ich tworzenia jest uwarunkowany interakcjami i procesami społecznymi zachodzącymi w zespołach pracowniczych [Agrell, Gustafson, 1996;Van Offenbeek, Koopman, 1996;Drach-Zahavy, Somech, 2013].…”

Firm culture and performance: intensity's effects and limits

“…It is often the best way to explain inimitable firm actions such as innovation and adaptivity that frustrate traditional approaches that assume a central tendencies and known distributions (Naranjo-Valencia et al, 2011). Why is culture a deeper element of firms?…”