Project Title
The project title is “Creating the Conditions for sustainable innovation – The Leadership Imperative” in the maritime company DP World (Dubai Port World). In this study, I aim to analyze how sustainable leadership can be implemented in the company and how it will institutionalize, foster, and ensure repeatable and sustainable innovation among the human resources of the mentioned company. I will be using micro-level and macro-level analyses for this paper: employees and leaders from the DP world will be interviewed, and studies conducted in other countries will be compared.
Key Article
The key article for my research is titled “The influencing factors of enterprise sustainable innovation: an empirical study”; it was written by Chen (2016). In this article, Chen (2016) describes the macro-level indicators of innovation by reviewing other studies and articles that researched the same problem. The author also provides a framework to evaluate innovation: “knowledge sustainable innovation capability, production sustainable innovation capability, and market sustainable innovation capability” are used as the main indicators of innovation (Chen 2016, p. 427). Using the literature analysis, the author develops a questionnaire for his study that also reflects the key indicators of innovation. The study uses a questionnaire to gather data; I also aim to use questionnaires provided to DP world employees to collect data for my research. The sample size in the author’s study is from three Chinese provinces where the enterprises selected for the study are located. Therefore, both the author and I aim to use macro-level and micro-level data as the tools for data gathering. The metrics provided by the author in his study are similar to those that I aim to use in my research because they cover both the macro- and micro-levels (Chen 2016).
The Metrics
To measure innovation, the author uses three indicators of innovation that I also aim to use as reference indicators in my research (Chen 2016). Moreover, I also plan to use the literature reviewed by the author to conduct the macro-level analysis and compare and contrast data from different countries and studies. To test the reliability of the variables, the author uses Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient (Chen 2016). Although it is not yet clear whether I am going to use the same coefficient to test the reliability of variables in my research, I can use it as a reference when deciding what tools are needed to measure it. The three innovation capabilities can be modified to fit into the study I aim to conduct. Therefore, as the author’s findings were found to be reliable, I believe that this study can be used as a valid reference during my research.
Additional metrics that I will discuss cover two dimensions in my research: leaders and employees. Leaders need to provide inspirational motivation to their employees if they implement the framework of sustainable leadership (Tideman, Arts & Zandee, 2013). The primary data I aim to use is the percentage of leaders’ behaviors in DP world that is crucial for creating and sustaining an environment where employees are motivated to work on innovation (it will be measured in scale). I also aim to establish how employees perceive their leader’s behaviors and if these behaviors drive a culture of innovation in the company. This data will be measured in percents. Thus, although I aim to use the key article as a reference, I will also establish a distinct measurement tool of innovation-related behaviors and their efficiency.
Reference List
Chen, S 2016, ‘The influencing factors of enterprise sustainable innovation: an empirical study’, Sustainability, vol. 8, no. 5, pp.425-431.
Tideman, S, Arts, M & Zandee, D 2013, ‘Sustainable leadership. Towards a workable definition’, The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, vol. 49, no. 1, pp.17-33.