Early Innovation Leadership
DS 81: Proceedings of NordDesign 2014, Espoo, Finland 27-29th August 2014
Year: 2014
Editor: Miko Laakso, Kalevi Ekman
Author: Aschehoug, Silje; Schulte, Kjersti; Ringen, Geir
Series: NordDESIGN
Institution: Sintef Raufoss Manufacturing, Norway
Section: Management and organization of design and development
Page(s): 672-681
ISBN: 978-1-904670-58-2
Abstract
This paper presents an exploratory case study of five companies in an industrial cluster in Norway with the purpose of exploring how companies in this specific Norwegian context lead and organize their innovation efforts. All companies regard innovation on products or services as essential for survival in the competitive offshore and marine market. The companies have been examined based on leadership style and organizational context. The preferred leadership style is relatively flat organizational structure, great freedom of work, and self-leading employees. In terms of organization, the companies work multi-disciplinary both in terms of function and profession. Everyone's opinions and ideas are equally appreciated and practical experience and skills are greatly appreciated. The findings add to current body of innovation literature, and may be used by both practitioners and researchers looking for best practice references.
Keywords: Innovation, leadership, organization, teams