Can formal innovation training improve group- and organizational-level innovativeness in a healthcare setting?

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Jun 2017

Purpose Does formalization really destroy creative or innovative thinking? What if formal innovation training actually improved firm-level innovativeness? What if a manager could predict the likelihood of success or failure of such a program, prior to any resources being used? This is the aim of the study, to determine whether formalization has a positive impact on group- and organizational-level innovativeness. Additionally, this study will explore the extent to which success or failure of such a program can be predetermined, prior to the start of training. Method An intervention study was conducted in a healthcare setting. Quantitative and qualitative measurements were used in determining the effect of the formal innovation training. There were two groups: a participant group and a nonparticipant group. The intervention’s express aim was to improve both group- and organizational-level innovativeness. Findings After the innovation intervention was completed, the participant group had a significant improvement in their understanding of innovation strategy and idea initiations, while the nonparticipant group had a significant improvement in innovation strategy. Additionally, eight innovative ideas emerged as a result of the training; three of those ideas were implemented and diffused within the organization. Conclusion First, this study showed that formalization could improve both group- and organizational-level innovativeness, which was contrary to theory. Second, this study indicated that the level of excitement and engagement in a group is essential to the success of this initiative. In this study, the participating group’s level of excitement and engagement was so high that it seemed it was contagious to the rest of the organization. Even though the nonparticipant did not partake in any training, they learnt from it anyways, through the engagement of the participating group. Furthermore, the success of an innovation initiative can be predicted by looking to the innovative readiness of the group or organization.

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186%2Fs13731-017-0073-0.pdf

Can formal innovation training improve group- and organizational-level innovativeness in a healthcare setting?

Schultz et al. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Can formal innovation training improve group- and organizational-level innovativeness in a healthcare setting? Joseph S. Schultz 0 Endre Sjøvold Beate André 0 Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology , Trondheim , Norway Purpose: Does formalization really destroy creative or innovative thinking? What if formal innovation training actually improved firm-level innovativeness? What if a manager could predict the likelihood of success or failure of such a program, prior to any resources being used? This is the aim of the study, to determine whether formalization has a positive impact on group- and organizational-level innovativeness. Additionally, this study will explore the extent to which success or failure of such a program can be predetermined, prior to the start of training. Method: An intervention study was conducted in a healthcare setting. Quantitative and qualitative measurements were used in determining the effect of the formal innovation training. There were two groups: a participant group and a nonparticipant group. The intervention's express aim was to improve both group- and organizational-level innovativeness. Findings: After the innovation intervention was completed, the participant group had a significant improvement in their understanding of innovation strategy and idea initiations, while the nonparticipant group had a significant improvement in innovation strategy. Additionally, eight innovative ideas emerged as a result of the training; three of those ideas were implemented and diffused within the organization. Conclusion: First, this study showed that formalization could improve both group- and organizational-level innovativeness, which was contrary to theory. Second, this study indicated that the level of excitement and engagement in a group is essential to the success of this initiative. In this study, the participating group's level of excitement and engagement was so high that it seemed it was contagious to the rest of the organization. Even though the nonparticipant did not partake in any training, they learnt from it anyways, through the engagement of the participating group. Furthermore, the success of an innovation initiative can be predicted by looking to the innovative readiness of the group or organization. Cultural characteristics; Formalization; Innovative readiness; Innovation management; Process development Background Innovation in healthcare is one of the most important developments for any modern society (Christensen, Grossman, & Hwang, 2009) , especially when considering the baby boomers that are approaching. It is known among healthcare practitioners that most developed countries will be experiencing unprecedented growths in their elderly population from 2020 to 2050 (Kulik, Ryan, Harper, & George, 2014) . However, what remains unclear is how these public organizations are going to meet these upcoming challenges. That is the aim of this study, to empirically test if formalization, by means of formal innovation training, will better prepare public organizations for the challenges to come. This aim will be tested by conducting an innovation intervention at a municipality that provides health care services for the elderly in their region. This study will measure the innovativeness between two groups within the same organization. One group will be participating in the innovation training, while the other group will be continuing work as usual or maintaining status quo. Each group’s innovativeness will be measured, both before and after the innovation training is completed, to determine if the innovation intervention had an impact on either group’s innovative capabilities. The study makes an important contribution to innovation literature by testing a research question that has been posed and recommended for future research but has yet to be tested. A comprehensive review of innovation literature has failed to locate a single adequately conducted and reported intervention study (Anderson, Protocnik, & Zhou, 2014, pp. 1321) . There is a need for a “fully functional, pre- and postmeasurement designs, preferably with the use of participant and control group designs in real life organizational interventions with the express aim of improving individual-, group-, or organizational-level innovativeness” (Anderson et al., 2014, pp. 1321; see also Pierce & Delbecq, 1977) . Literature review The need for innovation in eldercare Globally, the elderly population is expected to more than double, from 841 million people in 2013 to over 2 billion in 2050 (Nations, 2013) . Most developed countries, like the USA, the UK, Australia, Japan, and Korea, are expecting their elderly population to double from 2013 to 2050 (Aging, 2014; Kulik et al., 2014) . Norway is no different. From 2010 to 2050, their elderly popul (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186%2Fs13731-017-0073-0.pdf

Joseph S. Schultz, Endre Sjøvold, Beate André. Can formal innovation training improve group- and organizational-level innovativeness in a healthcare setting?, Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2017, pp. 13, Volume 6, Issue 1, DOI: 10.1186/s13731-017-0073-0