Barriers to Employee-Driven Innovation

Abstract

<jats:p> Innovativeness and employee-driven innovations in particular are important sources of competitiveness for small and medium-sized food companies. The fierce competition in the food industry is forcing these companies to increase their operational efficiency in order to compete with the large companies in the market. This paper investigates barriers to innovations in the bakery sector through a case study of a growth-oriented regional bakery. The study contributes to new contextualized knowledge of employee-driven innovation activity in small food production companies. It provides a nuanced understanding of how the manufacturing context of a bakery leads to specific constraints on innovative employee behaviour, and of how the context and the human, organizational and physical resources interact with employee-driven innovation activity. </jats:p>

Linking Structural Empowerment to Employee-Driven Innovation: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment

“…Kesting and Ulhøi (2010) argue that "for ordinary employees, to drive innovations largely means participating in those organizational decision-making procedures by which innovations are triggered and determined" (p. 68). According to Aaltonen and Hytti (2014), contextual factors such as organizational structures could act as a barrier to innovation. In a more recent study, Renkema et al (2018) suggest that organizations cannot utilize the innovation potential of ordinary employees if they fail to empower those employees.…”

The Effect of Decisional Leader Procrastination on Employee Innovation: Investigating the Moderating Role of Employees’ Resistance to Change

“…Previous research has highlighted employee innovation as a core element for organizations to maintain competitive advantage (Anderson et al, 2004; Bledow et al, 2009; Choi & Chang, 2009). However, it has also been argued that many obstacles exist that may hinder innovation (e.g., Aaltonen & Hytti, 2014; Madrid-Guijarro et al, 2009). The present research introduced the concept of procrastination as an important leader trait that may hamper employee innovation.…”