Browsing by Author "Dean, Alicia Eleanor"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemThe development of an innovation leadership programme(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Dean, Alicia Eleanor; Malan, D. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Business Management.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Organisations are required to innovate to remain noteworthy competitors in the global marketplace. Many organisations realise this but continuously fail to implement the right practices to support the evolution of an innovation culture. In these organisations, innovation is defined as the responsibility of a select few within the Research and Development or Marketing departments and the latent potential of individuals and teams outside of these departments are never tapped into. Many companies attempt to further innovation by implementing idea management systems, rolling out training focused on developing creative thinking and other similar skills, and adding innovation to their organisational values. Whilst these are all important, it neglects a key ingredient necessary for successful innovation, namely management. Traditional management practices, rooted in control, predictability and risk aversion, often stifle innovation, which in turn is characterised as unpredictable and risk prone. It is therefore critical that different management practices and styles are adopted for innovation to become part of the organisation’s fabric. Existing innovation training programmes often focus on either the innovation process or creative thinking skills, and few programmes address the leadership knowledge, skills and behaviours required to successfully manage innovation. With this opportunity in mind, the primary purpose of this research project was to develop a training programme to provide team leaders and managers with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage innovation with their teams. Following a comprehensive literature review, the researcher decided to focus on four broad themes during the development of the training content, each of which represented a module in the training programme. The four modules were (1) the fundamentals and theory of innovation; (2) the nature of creative people and creative work; (3) the role of the work context, and (4) innovation leader behaviours, knowledge and skills. The principles of adult learning were also considered during the development of the programme. The training programme was designed to be interactive and involved the use of group exercises, reading material and video content. The secondary objective was to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the programme’s effectiveness, and the programme was therefore presented to a group of managers within a large call centre environment. The participants, as well as their subordinates, were requested to complete comprehensive questionnaires both prior to and upon completion of the training programme. The questionnaires focused on perceived organisational innovativeness, the organisation’s climate, as well as eight leadership competencies. Statistical analyses revealed that there was a positive improvement from the pre-assessments to the post-assessments, thereby indicating that the training programme was indeed successful in achieving its goals.