Ronald C Beckett

Engendering an innovative culture and maintaining operational balance

Purpose – This paper aims to identify key elements of innovative culture using innovation audit tools. The research seeks to determine if factors such as the ability to collaborate are important in building a culture that supports innovation.Design/methodology/approach – Many firms are continually scanning the environment for sources of ideas for product or service innovations. to realise benefits from these practices, organisations need a culture that supports collaborations and a systematic approach to man work and uses the two cases studies to highlight some of the benefits of collaboration.Findings – The key role of leadership in the two cases is noted, however not all aspects of innovation culture are considered in these case studies and further research needs to consider different forms of ownership and governance. Collaboration supported by creative leadership can give small firms a competitive innovative edge, small businesses seeking to be innovative need to understand the importance of leadershi...

Learning as a competitive advantage: innovative training in the Australian aerospace industry

For firms to survive in the highly competitive Aerospace Component Supply Market, they must have some sustainable competitive advantages. Customers are demanding continual price reductions and improvements in lead times from their suppliers. In the Asia Pacific region, developing economies such as China, Indonesia and Malaysia are prepared to support the aerospace industry through government intervention. Lacking such support, Australian companies such as Hawker De Havilland (HdH) must compete on price and lead-time in a relatively high wage market to survive. The major competitive advantage HdH enjoys is the knowledge and skill of its workforce. This study examines strategies HdH has put in place to enable them to maintain their competitive position by creating a learning organisation.

Learning to compete: post‐graduate training in an aerospace company

Over a period of nearly five years a large number of technology oriented employees in an Australian aerospace company were exposed to a wide variety of post‐graduate coursework modules intended to add a business management perspective to the technology background of those employees. Not all of the students had prior experience with university education, but some of these people completed Masters degrees. Their experience is also discussed. Over the duration of the program the company was in a constant state of significant change. The number of employees initially increased, adding a further training load, but later on the number of employees decreased and the program was wound back. This paper looks at how the program was integrated with work, the perceived upsides and downsides several years down the track, and the influence of organisational culture on the learning styles of the participants.

Communication and learning structures that facilitate transfer of knowledge at innovation transition points

Innovation processes are rarely smooth and disruptions often occur at transition points were one knowledge domain passes the technology on to another domain. At these transition points communication is a key component in assisting the smooth hand over of technologies. However for smooth transitions to occur we argue that appropriate structures have to be in place and boundary spanning activities need to be facilitated. This paper presents three case studies of innovation processes and the findings support the view that structures and boundary spanning are essential for smooth transitions. We have explained the need to pass primary responsibility between agents to successfully bring an innovation to market. We have also shown the need to combine knowledge through effective communication so that absorptive capacity is built in process throughout the organisation rather than in one or two key individuals.

Blending creativity and structure in implementing a novel idea

It is observed that the process of innovating involves both elements of structure and of agency and is supported by creative activities, which also embody elements of agency and structure. This observation is used to suggest a framework to characterise case-by-case implementation arrangements in the development stage of an individual innovation. Ideas emerging from structuration theory are used as a theoretical foundation for considering the interaction of structure and agency. A case study relating to the implementation of a particular out-of-the-box innovation is used to illustrate how some of the concepts presented are enacted at the operational level. The need for creativity in all of the evolutionary stages of this kind of innovation is noted. Ways in which highly structured practices may be adapted and may contribute to creativity through the use of critical questioning and reflection are illustrated. The adaptive structuration theory notion of appropriation of suitable structures for different purposes is observed to have some utility in innovation management research when combined with some particular research strategies. Seemingly linear concepts such as stage-gate management and the iterative nature of development of a complex system can be integrated and are discussed in the context of the illustrative case presented.