It goes without saying that innovations are immeasurably significant for the growth and development of any organization, however, it is essential to make the continuous to guarantee the stability of success in the future. According to the course company’s analysis dedicated to the evaluation of its preparedness to innovation, several changes in the organizational structure are required. First of all, in order to implement permanent innovations, the commitment to it should be throughout the whole organization. In other words, all members should realize the importance of development and move towards the same goals’ achievement. Although the company’s centralization helps disseminate practices and regulations quickly, it cannot ensure commitment, especially concerning the organization’s size. Thus, it is recommended to divide the company into smaller teams or departments with certain autonomy and management. It will not only improve the flexibility of working processes but facilitate control over innovations’ implementation.
Another recommendation dedicated to the establishment of continuous innovations is to develop contacts, improve communication, and stimulate innovative thinking within teams. As in the course company, various departments’ teams are united in order to work on projects, the interaction between their members is highly essential. In addition, the motivation of workers improves their creativity and productivity – thus, motivated employees who work in cooperation with others in a friendly working atmosphere are more ready to accept innovations on a constant basis. In addition, contact between managers and subordinates is necessary as innovative thinking is constantly stimulating is stimulated when the ideas of employees are considered. Thus, the implementation of transformational leadership may be regarded as an essential change for the company.
As a matter of fact, in a company that makes innovations a part of its culture and values permanently, intentions are set and communicated to all members along with a commitment to development through involvement in innovative practices and behavior. These intentions are created through innovations’ shared understanding and strategies, their implementation, and subsequent evaluation of their efficiency (Reeves et al., 2017). Thus, the adoption of innovation practices on a permanent basis requires planning, the building of innovation skills, the examination of outcomes and learning from it and mistakes, active decision-making, and patience as the innovation process requires time.
The course study company has a centralized organizational structure that may be considered as one of the most traditional forms. In this case, all innovation strategies and resources are set and distributed from the center, the general management. In general, this structure facilitates the distribution of innovations, however, it does not guarantee employees’ commitment to them and may increase the costs of improvement. Thus, it is recommended to make the company’s structure less centralized in relation to innovations. In other words, it is possible to provide certain autonomy for departments in decision-making to fasten resource allocation and innovation implementation. In addition, equally distributed responsibilities among employees will positively contribute to their collaboration and communication.
There are a considerable number of barriers that may slow down or postpone the process of innovation, including fear of failure, lack of resources, capacity, collaboration, commitment, delivery, focus and leadership, and short-term thinking. In addition, organizational resistance may occur at any level of the company as not all employees accept changes that may limit their comfort in the workplace. It may be reduced through the cultivation of the culture of change, training, communication with workers, and supportive management.
Reference
Reeves, M., Fink, T., Palma, R., & Harnoss, J. (2017).MITSloan Management Review, 1-10.