Managing innovation successfully : The value of contextual fit
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Abstract
Innovation - the development and implementation of novel and useful ideas - lies at the heart of human adaptation. Individuals are creative in solving novel problems and exploiting opportunities. Work teams and organizations develop and implement new products and processes. This dissertation examines the mental processes, individual behaviors, and coordinated actions in social systems from which innovation emerges in real-world settings. The author develops a dialectic perspective which views innovation as the result of a dynamic interplay between contradictory forces. Based on this theoretical perspective, three empirical studies are conducted towards the goal of an improved understanding of innovation. First, the author shows that creativity requires an integration of different affective and cognitive functions. Personality differences play an important role in determining in which work situation this integration occurs. Second, the author specifies conditions under which active performance is mostly likely in research and development teams. Active performance is characterized by high motivational intensity and proactivity. It occurs if there is congruence between a person s orientation and the work context. Third, the author examines effective modes of managing innovation implementation. The distribution of roles between a leader and team members is found to be critical for implementation success. The findings of the three empirical studies are integrated by applying the concept of contextual fit. It is argued that innovation is most likely to succeed under conditions of contextual fit, because contextual fit leads to optimal functioning. Practical recommendations that can help to achieve contextual fit and hence optimal functioning are expressed in terms of if-then statements.Link to publications or other datasets
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Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 2, 2009, S.305-337