Change Leadership and Innovation Discussion Paper

Introduction

Change leadership and innovation stand as two different facets which are the core foundation of a flourishing empire. Change leadership fosters attaining the organizational objectives by visualizing an approach in which the primary goals may stand achieved. Change leaders in organizations remain the epitome of stirring success due to their mentality towards sustainable change mechanisms within a corporation. On the other hand, influential leaders spark innovative ways by which utilization of resources and practices in which the change process remains well incorporated to ensure change. Leadership plays a pivotal role coming to management of innovation (Schoemaker et al., 2018). Firstly, in a bottom-up part, they foster innovative results by facilitating ideas and initiatives from team building. Secondly, leaders must realize a corporation’s strategies and goals from a top-down role.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation

Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation feature as the core competencies of business internationally. Corporate Social Responsibility defines the ethical contribution towards economic development, which fosters to better the quality of life of the employees, their families, the community, and society. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that CSR sparks a ripple effect either within or outside the organization. The sole purposes of carrying out CSR projects narrow down to th0ree main points. Firstly, encouraging a sense of giving back to the community. Secondly, to ensure a corporation’s participation in the philanthropic causes that feature in the society. Lastly, providing a positive social value improves an organization’s reputation. Furthermore, with the dynamic change in society’s expectations, CSR projects have had to change over time to match the current expectations that feature prevalently within the society.

The significance tied to CSR participation in the business is developed immensely over the years. Such that business considers it a lucrative idea as it builds the reputation of a firm or results in the increase in the sales volume. Categorizing the ripple effect of corporate social responsibilities can be classified into three broad spectrums. The social area is an effect that involves external and social issues that include social inclusion generation and employee volunteering and education. The second area of the ripple effect pertains to the economy, which addresses ethical training standards, job-related issues, and product valuation. Lastly, environmental consideration is the last ripple effect of CSR involvement, including consideration of emissions and waste control, sustainable development, and the product life cycle. Risk-averse companies find proactive involvement in CSR as a mechanism in which they can mitigate the risk aspect of innovation. Change Leadership and Innovation Discussion Paper Furthermore, CSR projects may either feature long-term or short-term though feature as beneficial to an organization.

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Innovation in comparison to Corporate social responsibility poses a risky venture for an organization. Considering inculcating proactive practice in both innovation and CSR may pose as a successful strategy in attaining success for a firm (Answer et al., 2018). On the other hand, techniques such as instilling a space for innovation may greatly encourage establishing new deployment methods. Secondly, enabling organization agility may significantly boost the adaption as pet the ever-changing needs experienced in the marketplace. Thirdly, broadening perspectives offers room for the thriving of ideas regardless of their source. For instance, Unilever once attempted to hold a universal online discussion whose purpose was to examine the sustainability development goals, and the feedback was enormous. Fourthly, promoting and rewarding collaboration is an excellent move towards attaining innovation as it encourages innovation to spring from the collaborative team effort. Lastly, learning from the setbacks and celebrating achieved milestones in innovation is fundamental as it may encourage the workforce to innovate more and acknowledge the problems encountered.

Intrapreneurship and Innovation

The act of intrapreneurship enables an employee to work as an entrepreneur within an organization to attain an innovative product or service. The main difference stems from the fact that intrapreneurship applies to a large firm that has existed over time, whereas entrepreneurship occurs in a new firm. In addition, an entrepreneur forges the utilization of their capital, forsaking a guaranteed income. In contrast, an intrapreneur is a company employee who stays in-house to pursue their idea within a large corporation other than commencing a start-up (Ibrahim, 2016). Individuals may not categorize intrapreneurship as it may comprise a team effort. The categorization of intrapreneurs falls into three broad groups: the advocate, the change-maker, and the creator. The advocate springs from the customer-facing role as they play a principal function of shaping the problem to be solved, defining what the solution should stand approached. On the other hand, the change-maker is the external business person and typically makes things happen. Lastly, the creator is the internal-facing role as they give life to an idea and initiate a prototype solution.

Intrapreneurship plays a significant role in influencing innovation within companies. The practice of intrapreneurship encourages corporate development due to the mitigation of talent loss through the creation of start-ups by entrepreneurs. The role of intrapreneurship within large corporations should stand acknowledged to establish its significance. Through intrapreneurship, it is possible to identify ideas by identifying whether an idea seems market adaptable, user-friendly, and compatible with the company objectives. Secondly, idea presentation makes the idea understandable to a group of individuals within the corporation. Thirdly idea implementation which encompasses putting the idea into action. Strategy planning incorporates putting in place strategies to win over existing competitors. The extension of the enterprise stems as the ultimate goal to support the development of the enterprise. Lastly, the role of intrapreneurship is to stir a spirit of leadership, thus driving guiding fellow employees and driving the organization towards sustainability.

Intrapreneurs require support to support innovation in an organization effectively. Since intrapreneurs are also employees, it is vital to avoid disengaging them with the employees to prevent isolation tendencies. Training and offering incentives is an excellent mechanism to encourage intrapreneurship as individuals get to learn and stay motivated to invent new ideas. Secondly, the provision of support from management plays a pivotal role in inspiring innovation within a firm. An intrapreneur may feel more confident in a corporation whereby all the required resources remain to develop the new idea. Thirdly, leadership support around intrapreneurship efforts encourages innovation immensely as visible leadership support and securing active support enhance success at all innovation production levels. Lastly, incorporating channels and processes in place in that the systems in place can build and effectively review the idea of the intrapreneur.

In addition, intrapreneurship has foreseen the emergence of several lucrative ventures over the years through employee collaboration. An employee back at Sony came up with the PlayStation gaming console after tinkering with a Nintendo that belonged to the daughter. Senior leaders’ support gave the innovation an opportunity as they deemed the invention promising for a new creation. Other than that, Post-It Note at 3M and U-2 spy plane resulted from employee collaboration that sparked the innovations (Ibrahim,2016). Therefore, the principle of intrapreneurship remains a significant aspect, especially when it comes to in-house innovation.

Leadership and Innovation

Leadership pertains to the positioning of an individual towards leading a corporation in achieving set goals. The leadership style plays a pivotal role in innovation as a leader fosters developing team vision and self-efficacy by offering employees opportunities to liaise in creating new concepts. They remain to understand organizational strategies and atmospheres that inspire participative, innovative problem-solving techniques (Battilana et al., 2010). Due to the dynamic business environment, it is convenient to acknowledge change leadership. Since change is a common phenomenon, authentic leadership is mandatory for acquiring a proper process upgrading(Vasilescu,2012). Leading innovation stands as a driver for growth that senior leaders should embrace to establish successful ventures. Furthermore, the purpose of leadership in creation poses as innovative leaders have a clear vision of the future expectations and foster trust, which sparks employees to invent different mechanisms to manage the business.

The turbulent transformation in the business arena requires leaders who promote innovation within the workplace. The lack of innovation in an organization spells out failure in the long-term for a venture. Therefore, a leader that embraces innovation plays a crucial part in steering the firm towards success. The leadership styles that aim to support an innovative culture at the workplace include; entrepreneurial, transformational, charismatic, and participative leadership (Boonstra, 2019). Entrepreneurial leadership comprises leaders with an enormous drive, prevailing motivation, and a great desire for achievement. Transformational leadership pertains to a leadership style that encompasses a curious, explorative leader and is ideological. Charismatic leadership entails leaders who perceive to pay attention to specific events and scenarios and have a high sense of self-belief. Lastly, in participative leadership, as the name suggests, the leaders in this category stand aware of the organization and remain conscious of the environment. Innovative organizations invest in one of the four leadership styles that support innovation culture.

Leadership incorporates several vital roles and responsibilities towards an organization, especially in the face of innovation. Change Leadership and Innovation Discussion Paper Firstly, a leader stands expected to inspire and motivate the employees towards working to attain a common objective. Secondly, delegation and empowering the juniors remain mainly achieved by considering the right people to work with, which eases leadership. Thirdly, effective time management within the firm allows for proper management by prioritizing the tasks (Live Oak Bank, 2021). Fourthly, instituting effective administrative structure and communication procedures that outline the chain of command makes the organization sound in control. Furthermore, reviewing ideas and systems during innovation could easily be achieved.

Employees require motivation to support actively and commit to innovation; thus, it is essential to incorporate practices that encourage cultural innovation. Brainstorming amongst the employees is one of the practice’s leadership of an organization should encourage to boost sharing of ideas. Encouraging employees to participate in workshops may increase their creative process, promoting the atmosphere of cultural innovation at the workplace. Thirdly it is crucial to act on the ideas through reviewing and building on them other than only acknowledging ideas. Fourthly, discovering the motivating factors of employees is vital in motivating support and commitment towards innovation. Lastly, ensuring proper communication within the company by establishing structures that support dialogue may significantly foster commitment and support of the employees towards creation.

Sponsorship and Innovation

Leaders and executives play a pivotal role in achieving change and success. Dynamic and visible transformation sponsorship is key in attaining success and creating fruitful change results (Prosci,2016). Sponsorship connotes an activity towards change effort, which involves a sponsor responsible for legitimizing and demonstrating ownership towards a change initiative. Sponsorship can pose as an amplifier of the changes a leader wishes to incorporate by involving others to lead change initiatives according to the goals set. Furthermore, the primary purpose of sponsorship towards innovation is to foster the creation of a competitive advantage. Executive sponsorship could remain categorized into four distinct sponsorships leaders should deploy to achieve change. They include; innovation, collaboration, leadership development, and brand.

Sponsors play a significant role in an organization’s operation; therefore, it is vital to understand their roles at the workplace. Firstly, visible participation throughout the process as sustained presence builds and maintains the momentum towards the change initiative. Secondly, influential sponsors should build a coalition of sponsorship to foster mobilization amongst the key stakeholders to ensure they all advocate for change in the organization. Lastly, communicating support and promoting change as employees comply with what the senior leaders in an organization communicate. Furthermore, senior leaders relay the message of change from the point of utmost understanding and the risks forecasted of not embracing the changes.

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Practices needed to support innovative initiatives and motive employees to commit to the innovation change encompass several practices. Ensuring frequent communication between the sponsor and the employees fosters the flow of communication. It is vital to ensure the employees clearly understand the change and the risks associated with failure to adapt to the change. Holding regular meetings in the organization to assess the progress of the change adaptation to ensure the employees have a clear picture of the objectives of change the sponsor thrives to achieve (Creasey,2018). Creating and nurturing a collaborative working environment may coerce the employees to commit to the innovation change initiatives. Moreover, maintaining a work-life balance is essential in minimizing employees’ stress level, which gives room for advancing the creative process that supports innovation change initiatives within the corporation. Furthermore, rewarding innovative habits may motivate employees to emulate and support innovative initiatives that foster intrapreneurship growth.

Conclusion

Change leadership and innovation constitute of core facets that make up its foundation. Innovation poses a vital driver of the majority of the operational businesses in the market. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge the significance of innovation in the business arena. Other than that, the effective incorporation of influential leaders ensures that the operations of an institution stand propelled in the right direction. Moreover, dynamic changes in the business arena require the power of change leadership to spearhead change management, ensuring the organization attains its required objectives in line with the innovation at hand. In addition, another emerging factor is the incorporation of corporate social responsibility projects in a bid to mitigate the risks that a company may face in proactive innovation. Furthermore, inculcation of the intrapreneurship aspect is beneficial to the firm as they mitigate the loss of innovation. It also encourages robust development in the research and development department, which boosts innovation tremendously.

References

Anser, M. K., Zhang, Z., & Kanwal, L. (2018). Moderating effect of innovation on corporate social responsibility and firm performance in realm of sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(5), 799–806. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1495

Battilana, J., Gilmartin, M., Sengul, M., Pache, A. C., & Alexander, J. A. (2010). Leadership competencies for implementing planned organizational change. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(3), 422–438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.03.007

Boonstra, J. (2019, October 14). 4 leadership styles to boost innovation. Https://Dobetter.Esade.Edu/En/Leadership-Styles-Innovation?_wrapper_format=html.

Creasey, T. (2018, March 29). 5 Tactics for Engaging Effective Sponsors. Https://Blog.Prosci.Com/5-Tactics-for-Engaging-Effective-Sponsors. https://blog.prosci.com/5-tactics-for-engaging-effective-sponsors

Ibrahim, D. M. (2016). Intrapreneurship. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2718496

Live Oak Bank. (2021, October 21). Positive Leadership: Roles Of The Leader. https://www.liveoakbank.com/veterinary-resources/roles-leader

Prosci. (2016). Primary Sponsor’s Role and Importance. Www.Prosci.Com. https://www.prosci.com/resources/articles/primary-sponsors-role-and-importance

Schoemaker, P. J. H., Heaton, S., & Teece, D. (2018). Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, and Leadership. California Management Review, 61(1), 15–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125618790246

Vasilescu, C. (2012). Change leadership for process improvement. Land Forces Academy Review, 17(3), 326. Change Leadership and Innovation Discussion Paper