Sony - How Leaders Influence Employees' Innovative Behaviour

HOW LEADERS INFLUENCE EMPLOYEES' INNOVATIVE BEHAVIOUR

Jeron P.J. de Jong and Deanne N.Den Hartog

Topic: Discuss the role of the leader to encourage and motivate innovation in the workplace

I will provide an inventory of leader behaviours likely to enhance employee's innovative behaviour, including idea generation and application behaviour.

One way for organizations to become more innovative is to capitalize on their employee's ability to innovate. Individual innovation helps to attain organizational success (Van de Ven, A. (1986),''Central problems in the management of innovation'', Management Science, Vol.32, pp. Vol.32,pp. 590-607, Amabile, T.M (1988), A model of creativity and innovations'', in Shaw,B.M and Cummings, L.L.(Eds), Research in Organisational behaviour, Vol.10. pp.123-67.

In general, leaders have a powerful source of influence on employees' work behaviours Yukl, G.,(2002), Leadership in organisations, 5th ed., Prentice-Hall, Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ.

We combined in-depth interviews and literature research to develop the inventory of

leader behaviours. The in-depth interview is a qualitative research technique and the use of literature which is important to complement the results of an exploratory study (Strauss and Corbin, 1990).

We selected 12 participants, each participant was a manager and/or entrepreneur (business owner) in a small knowledge-intensive service firm (100 employees).

Face-to-face interviews were held and each respondent was asked to describe their leadership style, what role innovation plays in there, whether and how employees are involved in innovation.

1. Below are the key findings of leader behaviours:

1.1 Innovative Role Modelling

Most interviewees suggested that it is beneficial if they themselves are examples of

innovative behaviour as this can stimulate their employees to do the same.

1.2 Intellectual stimulation

Intellectual stimulation may create opportunities for employees to voice ideas that may otherwise be overlooked and is, therefore, believed to trigger idea generation in particular.

1.3 Stimulating knowledge diffusion

Several respondents believed that stimulating the dissemination of information among subordinates enhances idea generation.

1.4 Providing Vision

Interviewees tried to anchor the innovative activities in their firms by providing their employees with a sense of direction and overarching goals as well as