The Organizational Context of Strategic Innovation

Research has shown that strategically innovative companies are characterized by a distinctive organizational context enabling strategic innovation.

The culture is characterized by a questioning attitude, success and failure are rewared, mistakes are tolerated while inaction is punished. The culture welcomes change, supports risk taking, teamwork and collaboration.

The structure of strategically innovative companies tends to be fast and flat, consisting of small units and autonomous teams at the front line, and it encourages collaboration.

The processes too are fast and unbureaucratic. They support idea generation and experimentation. Decision making is decentralized.

This structure and processes need to be supported by the necessary systems, which enable collaboration, the use and creation of knowledge, reward risk taking and action and are used to create relationships with customers.

The people in such organizations are educated in regard to the strategy and skills needed for implementation. There also tends to be a large variety (internal and external) of people involved in the strategy making process.

For further details, have a look at the report.