How interoperability fosters innovation: The case for servant leadership

Abstract

What is the relationship between interoperability and innovation? While a relationship likely exists, according to the literature, it is seen to be very hard to prove. Furthermore, what role does (servant) leadership play? In order to address these questions, this research paper is based upon three research efforts, undertaken in Portugal: 1) An exploratory in-depth survey concerning servant leadership, administered to students finalizing their BSc Management Degree (54 valid responses); 2) An in-depth survey on servant leadership, interoperability and innovation administered to executives in various industries (55 valid responses from nine different industries); 3) A case study of Infosistema, an innovative Portuguese firm which exemplifies the servant leadership philosophy. Our results show that servant leadership leads to interoperability and both are seen to be antecedents of innovation. However, the servant leadership philosophy is a distant reality from most organizations in Portugal and this may mean less free-flowing communication and thus less organizational innovation as a consequence. Some culture change may first be necessary so that servant leadership may become more widespread. We also use the Business Narrative Modeling Language (BNML) at various points in the discussion, thus combining the narrative and visual content to communicate key management concepts. Key words: Servant leadership, innovation, interoperability, survey, case study, business narrative modeling language.