How innovations in leadership have changed management

By: Together Abroad 05-01-2016

Categories:** HR Leaders Talk,

Today, most of industrialized countries connect their hopes for a long-term sustainable economic growth with the transition to an innovative path of development. A great choice of different practices and instruments are offered to companies that can manage the innovation processes. However, we should not forget that so many external and internal factors are defining and shaping the same practices. Therefore, an important task of innovation management is placed in the hands of leaders where they have to select the best ways to use new technologies most efficiently in accordance with specific economic conditions and company resources.

Currently, an increasing number of managers support the idea of innovations and realize the need for its incorporation into traditional business processes of companies. The main reasons for that are the desire to improve the efficiency of operations, the need to respond to the dynamic development of the market, the fast growth of the company and the will to achieve a significant increase in general indicators of company’s success and flexibility. However, in order to achieve these results the company requires a sufficient system managed by its leaders that is capable of controlling the sequence and timing of all actions performed at the right time to respond to such deviations. Therefore, today's modern market has developed an ambivalent attitude to the issue of innovations. On the one hand, companies want to please and amaze their customers and keep up with competitors. On the other hand, they do not want to introduce “innovation just for innovation” which can lead to a lot of costs and prefer to learn from the mistakes of others.

Therefore, it becomes essential for a success that a leader of a company understands the role and significance of the innovation processes and choose the right strategy for its development and control in the organization. It will provide him with insights into the intensity and scope of scientific and technological innovations and their influences in the content and direction of organizational and managerial innovations.

An important factor in dealing with organizational matters of innovation management in the organization is also the choice of a particular type of organizational structure of management. Therefore, it is very important for a leader to see if his/her organization structure and culture fit with the new innovation processes of the company. Thus, depending on the nature and character of the particular innovation the most effective organizational form should be chosen.

Therefore, to make the innovation most successful and controlled, there is a need for a precise assessment of the company’s organization. The following questions should be asked:
Is your organization ready for changes?
Do you understand which innovations your company needs?
What are the long and short term goals you want to achieve with the innovations?
Is the environment good for a creation of new ideas and their realization?
What is the state of your internal and external factors in the organization?
Is the environment able to respond to changes well?
Will it be possible to efficiently resolve intra-contradictions and conflicts in the company?

One other important thing is to remember that your company must be managed in such a way that the atmosphere inside should contribute to the perception of innovations not as a threat but as an opportunity. People usually resist to changes due to the fear of the unknown. In opposition to this, your employees should believe that innovation is the best mean to preserve and strengthen their company. Moreover, it is necessary to understand that innovation is a guarantee of the employment and well-being of every employee.

By:Polina Merkulova