Leadership aiming at innovation: suggesting and discussing four roles of an innovation leader

Hugo Skålsvik,Jon-Arild Johannessen,Daniel Adriaenssen

doi:10.21511/ppm.14(3-2).2016.10

Hugo Skålsvik, Jon-Arild Johannessen + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.14(3-2).2016.10

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Abstract

Organizations often experience problems and challenges due to the development of rigid bureaucratic rules and procedures, which may represent obstacles to creativity and innovation. In a global knowledge economy, innovation is an important competitive parameter. Consequently, anything that may stimulate innovation in an organization’s creative energy fields is valuable. This paper addresses one question: What management roles of an innovation leader may enhance the development of innovation in an organization’s creative energy fields? Methodology used is conceptual generalization. The article suggests, clarifies and discusses four roles of an innovation leader’s that may have a positive impact on an organization’s innovation performance in creative energy fields. The roles are conceptualized as “the innovation leader as an expert”, “the innovation leader as a reputation builder”, “the innovation leader as a relationship builder”, and the “innovation leader as a creative change force”. The article argues how these four roles are important in promoting innovation in organizations. By doing this, the article contributes to the extant knowledge on how four different roles of an innovation leader’s may enhance an organization’s innovation performance in creative energy fields. Keywords: the knowledge society, innovation in organizations, creative energy fields, innovation leaders, roles of an innovation leader. JEL Classification: O31, O33, D83

Highlights

Innovation is a construct associated with wealth, prosperity and employment in society (Drucker, 2007), and in the innovation research literature, innovation is perceived as an important driver of economic growth; in industrialized economics (Tidd et al, 2005)
According to innovation knowledge and theory, success at the company level in the global knowledge economy requires a stream of continuous innovations (Sagasti, 2004; Gladwell, 2000; Hamel, 2007)
The article addresses the following question: What management roles of an innovation leader may enhance the development of innovations in an organization’s creative energy fields? We have answered this question by a discussion of four different roles of an innovation leader, which may impact on innovation performance in an organization’s creative energy fields

Summary

Introduction

Innovation is a construct associated with wealth, prosperity and employment in society (Drucker, 2007), and in the innovation research literature, innovation is perceived as an important driver of economic growth; in industrialized economics (Tidd et al, 2005). Despite the fact that there are different views how to interpret the concept innovation, there seems to be a consensus that “innovation is at the heart of many companies activities” There seems to be an agreement that innovation at the company level is a change oriented management process that needs to be adequately planned, organised and managed (Op.cit). There seems to be a consensus that there is a set of internal, external and contextual factors which may impact on and fuel innovation processes and development at the firm level. Innovation research has become one of the fastest growing research fields in the management area, and several definitions of the construct innovations have been offered

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