Survey respondents identify 8 most important Factors.

Based on survey results to date, participants in the ‘Check-Up’ have identified 8 out of the 25 Factors surveyed as being most important to a corporate culture which supports innovativeness.

Factor #2: Extent to which management explicitly looks for innovation. This Factor rates very highly and there is an indication that management is not sufficiently emphasizing the need for innovation; i.e. the gap between ‘ideal’ and ‘reality’ is large is above the norm. This is somewhat surprising since it is difficult to understand how any company would not make it clear to all personnel that innovation is important and should be a part of the culture. Perhaps the results indicate that there is complacency about innovation; that such a concept is taken for granted in many companies and is therefore not made explicit to all personnel. On the other hand, management can be challenged to do better. This should be a relatively easy Factor to fix providing there is sincerity and believability in how the message is relayed by management.

Factor #3: Tolerance of mavericks. The score for this Factor was very high, indicating its importance and at the same time, the differences between ‘Reality’ and ‘Ideal’ suggests that management is, in general, responding well in this subject; i.e. there is a tolerance for mavericks, at least in those companies which have responded so far.

Factor #4: Degree to which planning emphasizes rationing resources versus identifying opportunities. At any given time, and somewhat dependent on business cycles and the achievement of profit goals, companies experience a need to either ration capital or invest to grow. Few businesses have the luxury of always being able to take year-after-year advantage of opportunities. But it behooves the leadership not to fall into the trap of continually making use of the planning system to cut costs or reduce capital spending; i.e. to make it a cost-cutting exercise. Continuous use of this cost cutting mantra will inevitably stunt innovativeness.

Factor #6: Emphasis on management of people and their interactions. Management needs to place heavy emphasis on how people are organized and how they communicate. Setting up new divisions, restructuring, moving people around, and exposing one division or group to others, putting an intranet in place, are all worthwhile steps which can be taken.

Factor #10: Degree of formal communication in the organization. Having lots of informal communication within the corporation is viewed as much better than having limited communication. This Factor scored as highly important and, as well, the large difference between ‘Reality’ and ‘Ideal’ suggests that much more could be done.

Factor #11: Use of independent work groups. This is a definite characteristic of innovative companies and, based on the respondents input, commonly used. The score indicates that while important, as a characteristic of innovative companies, there is every indication that management generally embraces this idea and makes good use of independent work groups for special projects or initiatives. The difference between ‘Ideal’ and ‘Reality’ was not large.

Factor #14: Availability of reward mechanisms for innovation. The availability of reward mechanisms for innovators is rated, not surprisingly, as very important. Having a special category of rewards for innovators can however lead to perceived inequities in the overall corporate reward system. Some companies try to get around this by making awards but not publicizing the event; probably not a good idea as sooner of later the information as to who received special payments, rewards, or privileges, surfaces. A transparent open system of rewards is the best route and should be recognized for what it is; an award for special performance; an essential ingredient in moving corporations forward.

Factor #19: Availability of resources (budget, time, etc.), for new ventures. This is an important incentive to motivating innovative thinking in any organization. Where there is a general feeling that some monies, time, etc., can be made available for initiatives, there is likely to be a greater sense of being able to move forward and a sense of being open to innovation in whatever form this may take. The rather large difference between ‘Ideal’ and ‘Reality’ suggests that this is a problem, at least for those who have responded to date.

Summary

Interestingly, most of the Factors noted above are able to be influenced significantly by the actions of management and in most cases do not require major capital investment. Management’s attention and commitment are, however, required.

To arrive at conclusions regarding the most important Factors, we examined all responses and noted the level recorded for the ‘ideal’ company, from 0 to 5 or 0 to -5, depending on the Factor, as set out in the ‘Check-Up’. The higher the number, the more the respondent indicated that there was a need for this Factor to be present to support corporate innovation.

We also examined the difference between the ‘Ideal’ situation and ‘Reality’, to come to a judgment as to the current performance of the company for each Factor. The larger the difference, the more likely it is that the company is not performing at the ‘Ideal’ level – for each Factor. Individual company results will, of course, vary from what is stated above.

For more ideas on how to improve on your company’s performance, by Factor, please refer to Thought Starters on this web site.

*Based on results to date. The results could change as further use is made of the data base. Interpretation could therefore be modified as more results are posted.