Leadership to Creativity and Management of Innovation? The Case of the “Innovation Club” in a Production Company

Abstract

In the current era of ongoing dynamic business developments and advancements, any company that wishes to succeed needs to sustain an innovative culture in order to keep its position in the front line of competition. However, being creative and innovative in a production and manufacturing environment is challenging due to the organizational characteristics derive from a hierarchical structure in which systematic procedures are strictly followed. In this paper, we present a model for creating a sustainable culture of creativity and innovation in a manufacturing organization and we demonstrate the use of this model in a leading production company in the defense industry. The model explains the initiation phase that motivates employees to explore new opportunities and the maintenance phase that forms a sustainable infrastructure, which are integrated into a coherent foundation for continuous improvement and excellence. The case study describes how the model was implemented in the production company and reviews the major barriers the management faced in the process of implementing a culture of innovation. We discuss the actions taken to create a supportable infrastructure to promote innovative behavior by employees and managers and analyze different aspects of innovation strategy. We conclude with reporting the results of implementing this model in the case company and with recommendations for other manufacturing and production companies aspire to be innovative.