The Cultural Factors of Organizational Innovation

Organizational culture is an important but often overlooked aspect of the innovative process. Without the right cultural tone the overall amount and quality of new products and services are likely to be reduced. The strength of the cultural underpinnings influence the success of employee thinking and supports the proper experimental mindset. 

When it comes to knowledge of innovative processes the literature is revealing. Yet there are other contextual factors that influence the success and contribution to such process. The literature is weak on the concept of tacit and difficult to define cultural factors of innovation (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995). It is these cultural influences that determines the mental state and commitment to the success of future innovations. 

Those who support that culture are often seen as entrepreneurs.  Such innovative entrepreneurs are risk takers who seize upon opportunities to develop something new (Sarasvathy, Dew, Velamuri & Venkataraman, 2003). It is the creation of new products and solutions to produce higher levels of development for personal and professional gain that seems to take precedence. 

Yet understanding who is willing to create innovation and the process of innovation doesn’t tell us how to engage in innovation on an organizational scale. The research on contextual culture and its impact on innovation are weak. Understanding how organizations develop and create an innovative culture is important for higher levels of performance. 

A case study of Tele by Meissner and Sprenger (2010) looked at innovative from a contextual, procedural and cultural perspective. The purpose was to determine the interdependencies and communication patterns that give rise to organizational innovation. The researchers used interview questions the company to help determine the most appropriate factors in developing this culture. 

-Aversion to experimentation impacts innovative growth within organizations.

-Power dynamics reduced the successful completion of projects. 

-Management education and learning predispositions impacted the effectiveness of innovative cultures. 

Analysis:

Culture factors are not easy to see or determine from standard analytical investigation. However, it is these cultural factors that impact the organizations predispositions to developing innovative products and services. Organizations that have a proper culture will make adequate cultural acceptance for experimentation, minimize power abusers and brokers, and continuously develop their management teams. Failure to provide the right context increases resistance to new ideas and thoughts that leads to higher avenues of revenue generation. 

Author: Dr. Murad Abel

Meissner, J. & Sprenger, M. (2010). Mixing methods in innovative research: studying the process-culture-link in innovation management. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11 (3). 

Nonaka, Ikujiro & Takeuchi, Hirotaka (1995). The knowledge-creating company. New York: Oxford

University Press.

Sarasvathy, S., Dew, N., Velamuri, R. & Venkataraman, S. (2003). Three views on entrepreneurial opportunities. In Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch (Eds.), Handbook of entrepreneurship research (pp.141-160). New York: Springer.

The State of Business Communication Course Development in the U.S.

Business and personal communication are seen as some of the fundamental cornerstones of developing a successful career. With proper communication it is possible to influence people, understand people, and share your views with others. Through communication we are able to understand and relate to each other in important ways that further not only our interests but the interests of others. Research helps colleges understand how current communication is being taught and the subject matter of those courses.

According to Du-Babcock (2006), “Business communication has established itself as an important subject area and has become an integral component of business and school curricula” (p. 254). Since communication is so important in life it has been adopted into university business curriculum and continues to evolve. Through the development of student’s communication abilities they are able to expand their horizons.

”The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” -Ludwig Wittgenstein

As a representation of life, the language we use determines how we see the world. To communicate that effectively in a business setting means to influence the perceptions and abilities of others. It provides future businessmen and businesswomen opportunities to influence their environment in unique ways. Seeking to create higher levels of communication is effective in everything from interpersonal relationships to the selling of products.

The teaching of communication is on a continuous growth pattern in universities. A number of audits over the past 30 years have examined the evolutionary pedagogical and programmatic developments of courses (Wardrope & Bayless, 1999). Modern courses may seek to include new forms of communication such as texting and videoconferencing as well as older forms such as face-to-face and formal letters.

The study conducted by Russ (2009) surveyed 505 faculty members from 321 U.S. colleges and universities to determine who the major departmental sponsors of communication courses are, the level that introductory courses are taught, the average size of the introductory course, the medium of such courses, the depth of topics covered, and the types of assignments. The study’s findings are as follows:

-The study found that the most common curriculum in business schools was written communication, public speaking, persuasive and ethical communication, employment communication and mediated communication (email).

-The least taught education communication included interpersonal communication, mediated communication (text and video conferencing), and communication theory.

-The business department has grown in terms of hosting communication courses.

-Juniors and sophomores are the target of most introductory communication courses.

-The majority of students were in larger classes (over 30 students).

-The majority of teachers facilitate the courses in a traditional classroom setting (73.5%), online (3%) and a hybrid format (23.6%).

Analysis:

A vast majority of schools focus on traditional communication mediums which help to prepare students for a wide variety of employment situations. In the future, schools can consider the faster incorporation of new communication tools to help students prepare for changing markets based upon emerging technologies. Theoretical understandings of communications are not being taught at a satisfactory level even though such understandings create a context for future communication method incorporation. However, such theoretical understandings are likely to be offered in graduate courses but should briefly be introduced in later year undergraduate courses. The mechanical bases of communication are heavier in freshman and sophomore years to foster the development of rudimentary writing skills and higher levels of college academic performance.

Author: Dr. Murad Abel

Du-Babcock, B. (2006). Teaching business communication: Past, present, and future. Journal

of Business Communication, 43, 253-264.

Wardrope, W. J., & Bayless, M. L. (1999). Content of the business communication course: An

analysis of the coverage. Business Communication Quarterly, 62, 33-40.

Russ, T. (2009). The Status of the business communication course at U.S. Colleges and Universities.

Business Communication Quarterly, 72 (4).

Understanding the Development of Self-Reflection

Thinking about thinking is an important component of problem solving in life. The more accurately we can reflect upon our skills the stronger our strategic approaches and potential successes in life. As we age, many of us will become more self-reflective and more accurate in understanding our strengths and weaknesses. Research helps highlight how age brings wisdom in understanding oneself and our unique approaches to learning about ourselves in life and society. 

Awareness and evaluation of one’s own thinking and learning process is called metacognition. Meta meaning about self and cognition meaning thinking. Metacognition is comprised of 1.) knowledge of self, 2.) knowledge of task, and 3.) knowledge of strategies. It is this understanding of one’s abilities, the tasks that need to be completed and the strategies of achieving goals that give such persons an advantage in life. 

As people age they become more self-aware and reflective of their behavior (Vukman, 2005). Through time, this self-awareness also increases the ability of people to accurately describe and reflect upon their behavior and mannerisms. This awareness also creates higher levels of self-development and opportunities for learning

Those students who have higher levels of metacognition also have greater abilities to adjust their approaches to problems to find solutions. Through self-reflection, such individuals can either keep current strategies or adjust future strategies to have optimal outcomes (Hartman, 2001). It is this superior cognitive monitoring that creates stronger performance levels, which supersede the ability of many of their peers. 

Evaluating people’s metacognition can contribute to how people develop this sense of self and how it progresses through life. It also has the potential to tell research about when a person become reflective of their behavior and when they are more able to control their actions. People with high levels of metacognition act in deliberative ways to accomplish their goals. 

Research conducted by Vukman (2012) included 282 participants 13-15, 23-25, 33-35, 43-45 years of age.  Each group was tested on two constructs that include reasoning and meta-cognitive self-evaluation of achievement. Reasoning included spatial, verbal/logical and social reasoning. Meta-cognitive self-evaluation of achievement included 9 tasks and follow up questions that associated actual performance with subjective levels of performance. 

Results:

-Accuracy of self-evaluation increases with age.

-Men were more accurate than women in self-evaluations.

-self evaluations were more accurate in spatial, then verbal and followed by social reasoning.

-Social reasoning was ambiguous and therefore difficult for people to define.

Analysis: 

As people mature, they become more accurate in their self-evaluations of performance. The research indicates that people learn skills and are better able to judge their performances based years of gained experience that comes with age. The most difficult of the three constructs to self-evaluate are social reasoning due to its complex and ambiguous nature. Yet the more experience a person gains the more accurate they are in judging social affairs. To help employees gain a better perspective of themselves and their abilities it is necessary to provide accurate performance appraisals to help anchor subjective experience. 

Author: Dr. Murad Abel

Hartman, h. J. (2001). Metacognition in learning and instruction: Theory research and practice. Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Vukman, K. (2005). Developmental different in metacognition and their connections with cognitive development in adulthood. Journal of Adult Development, 12 (4).

Vukman, K. (2012). Metacognition accuracy and  learning to learn: A developmental perspective. Problems of Education in the 21^st Century, 46 (15).

National Growth as a Result of Research and Development Expenditures

Economic growth requires the creation of new products and services for sale that develops new financial revenue streams. Creative works contribute to economic growth by allowing for solutions to market problems and effective consumer utility. On a national scale research and development can increase the gross national product of entire nations. 

The first step in understanding economic development is the production of creative works. Creative works can be defined as a systematic approach to increase the stock of knowledge that contributes to man, culture and society by developing new applications (OECD, 1993). Such creative works are then further developed to make consumer products. 

The human capacity to innovate has an impact on productivity growth (Porter and Stern, 2000). This productivity growth is based on the intellectual capital within R& D projects and available national knowledge stock. As investments are moved into R&D, it is the human capacity that develops creative works from available information to solve market problems. 

Research by Guloglu and Tekin (2012) studied the relationships among R&D, innovation and economic growth in the countries of Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States.  R&D expenditures, patents and Gross National Product were considered important factors in the research in order to determine how each influences the other. A Granger-Causality Testing Methodology was used to analyze the results. 

Results: 

-There are positive relationships between R&D and innovation, R&D and economic growth, and economic growth with innovation. 

-R&D cause technological change and this technological change causes economic growth. 

-Causality relations between R& D and technology may also work in reverse. 

-Support for the Schumpeterian view that R&D sectors generate innovation and enhance rates of growth in the economy.

-Support that inventive activity and innovation are pro-cyclical. 

Analysis:

The development of national wealth is a result of the capacity to use human capital to engage in R&D projects that can be used to develop creative works and enhance GNP. Organizations contribute uniquely to the development of their nation by developing products and services that create higher levels of revenue that make their way into the economy. Through synergistic R&D developments and knowledge sharing national positions on the global market can be enhanced.

Author: Dr. Murad Abel

Guloglu, B. and Tekin, R. (2012). A panel causality analysis of the relationship among research and development, innovation and economic growth in high-income OECD countries. Eurasian Economic Review, 2 (1).

OECD (1993). The measurement of scientific and technological activities: Proposed standard practice for surveys of research and experimental development (Frascati Manual).Paris:OECD

Porter, M. and Stern, S. (2000). Measuring the ‘ideas’ production function: Evidence from international patent output. NBER Working Paper, 7891.