After reading Mariska Aloudella’s blog about how she believes Google Docs was going to overtake Microsoft’s strong foothold in the productivity market, it made me think about what causes businesses to fall to their competitors. Businesses often fail due to a lack of innovation but what aspects of a corporate culture breed innovation? Many firms have success in innovation when their employees are encouraged to try new things and be experimental. Innovation fostering cultures are ones that see value in intrinsic reward systems for employees, encouraging them to stay involved and absorbed in their work. They don’t necessarily compensate for ideas but realize how important it is to keep employees engaged, and recognize innovative ideas. A sustainable competitive advantage comes from ensuring innovation is part of its culture and operations, not an erratic process with only occasional success.
How can one company shift to nurture innovation? If senior management adopts the viewpoints above and not only speak about it but put them into action, the company will have greater success. They need to develop a less rigid company structure, appreciate new ideas, acknowledge mistakes may happen and give employees the tools and the power to put their ideas to work.
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Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-23/jumpstart-innovation-by-transforming-corporate-culture