The authors emphasize the significance of organizational culture and structure in boosting creativity, innovation, and management of change in the organization. The findings revealed that organic structures are most suitable in organizations because they foster flexibility and adaptability to changing internal and external environments. Similarly, the organization culture is a critical social control phenomenon that stimulates creative processes in the firm. From these readings, I was able to pinpoint structural weaknesses in my organization and develop remedial mechanisms to increase the firm’s competitive advantage. The findings are consistent with those of Lee and Min (2016), who posited that decentralized organizational structures catalyze innovation because it empowers employees to think and make independent decisions. Similarly, Mello, Marx, and Salerno (2012) opined that organizational structure was central to the success of an organization’s research and development capabilities to support innovation. An organizational culture that supports the sharing of knowledge and infusion of ideas promotes creativity and improves overall productivity (Mobarakeha, 2011). One statement that resonated powerfully with me and my organization was the “importance of culture in supporting change” (Andriopoulos, 2003). I liked the author’s position because an organizational culture should be embedded in the long-term vision of the firm to ensure smooth transitions in human resources, technology, or strategic change. However, I did not agree with Andriopoulos (2003) when he opined that “managers should select work that is creatively interesting and which offers opportunities for exploration.” Managers should stimulate creativity and innovation by making even less interesting tasks more interesting to employees. All work in the firm is important, and it would be wrong for managers only to select that which is creatively interesting. Employees should be encouraged to improve their creativity and innovative skills and not just choose tasks that already offer opportunities for exploration.
The question, “can strong cultures hinder innovation?” certainly left me wondering to what extent the organizational culture become detrimental to the firm’s innovation. The significance of this question is to spark one’s imagination that the development of culture in the organization should not undermine the capabilities of employees. It clarified the concept that strong cultures can inhibit innovation where they tend to emphasize so much on conformity. When employees conform to established procedures and rules, they lose their sense of individualism and the ability to come up with new ideas outside the established processes (Padilha and Gomes, 2016). Therefore, the culture of the organization needs to be constantly evaluated to ensure that it remains consistent in supporting innovation, creativity, and management of change. Despite the cogent arguments put forth in the readings, I noted that some questions were not adequately answered such as how best an organization can simultaneously implement multiple structures to offset the shortcomings of both the centralized and decentralized structure. There is a need for further research to come up with a structure that integrates the elements of both structures to boost the competitive advantage of the firm. Moreover, more research needs to be done to find out the role of other factors in determining creativity, innovation, and change management apart from organizational culture and structure. Summarily, I learned the importance of careful assessment of the organization’s short and long-term needs before implementing a particular structure or cultivating a culture because of its strong influence on creativity, innovation, and change management. Additionally, managers should adopt a leadership style that will support the organizational structure and culture to optimize innovation and creativity and increase competitive advantage. Lastly, I learned that strong cultures could also inhibit independent thinking and creativity, and it is thus important for managers to cultivate a culture that does not limit the potential of its employees to innovate.
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References
Andriopoulos, C. (2003) ‘Six paradoxes in managing creativity: an embracing act,’ Long Range Planning , 36: 375–88.
Lee, J., Min, J., & Lee, H. (2016). The Effect of Organizational Structure on Open Innovation: A Quadratic Equation. Procedia Computer Science, 91 , 492-501. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2016.07.128
Mello, A. M., Marx, R., & Salerno, M. (2012). Organizational Structures To Support Innovation: How Do Companies Decide? Review of Administration and Innovation - RAI, 9 (4). doi:10.5773/rai.v9i4.623
Mobarakeha, N. S. (2011). The relation between the organizational culture and creativity of managers and experts of Khuzestan physical education organization. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15 , 3648-3650. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.350
Padilha, C. K., & Gomes, G. (2016). Innovation culture and performance in innovation of products and processes: A study in companies of textile industry. RAI Revista De Administração E Inovação, 13 (4), 285-294. doi:10.1016/j.rai.2016.09.004
