Idea Implementation
Putting Creativity to Work: The Implementation of Creative Ideas in Organizations
The production of creative ideas does not necessarily imply their implementation. This study examines the possibility that the relation between creativity and implementation is regulated by individuals’ motivation to put their ideas into practice and their ability to network, or, alternatively, the number of strong relationships they maintain. Using data from 216 employees and their supervisors, results indicated that individuals were able to improve the otherwise negative odds of their creative ideas being realized when they expected positive outcomes to be associated with their implementation efforts and when they were skilled networkers or had developed a set of strong “buy-in” relationships.
Innovation is Not Enough: Climates for Initiative and Psychological Safety, Process Innovations, and Firm Performance
This paper contributes to the discussion on contingencies of process innovations by focusing on and introducing organizational-level constructs of climate for initiative and psychological safety. We argue that process innovations, defined as deliberate and new organizational attempts to change production and service processes, need to be accompanied by climates that complement the adoption and implementation of such innovations. Our study of 47 mid-sized German companies examines the relation between process innovations, climates for initiative and psychological safety, and firm performance. Results show that climates for initiative and psychological safety were positively related to two measures of firm performance—longitudinal change in return on assets (holding prior return on assets constant) and firm goal achievement— and moderated the relation between process innovations and firm performance.