An exploratory study into the influence of cognition, culture and motivation in organisational innovation

The aim of this study was to examine the dominating factors and relationships between them that affect innovation in an organisation. At the same time innovation dynamics and organisational effectiveness were demonstrated. The study was conducted in the context of the Australian innovation landscape with three case study organisations involved in research and development activities being examined. It is well publicised and confirmed by this study that organisations involved in innovation perform well. This study has been motivated by the observation that efficient innovation is not practiced or recognised by many organisations as many determinants are maybe unknown. It is accepted that as Australia moved through the post-industrial age towards the knowledge-based economy, the success of organisations may depend more on the ability of individuals with a vision who are adaptable to new situations, are life-long learners and could make sense from the increasing amount of information that may lead to tangible results, such as innovations. While the outcomes are very important, it is often the innovation activities and their progression, which are causing most organisational concern. There are still not enough studies showing applicable examples of what is important to enhance or start up innovation in organisations. This qualitative study extensively examined innovation and four other organisation related literature topics such as: i) organisation, ii) organisational behaviour, iii) organisational innovation, and iv) management to select three factors namely cognition, culture and motivation for the proposed integrated research framework. From this analysis, conclusions were drawn to the research question, and the intangible factors of cognition, culture and motivation were compared to discover what they may have in common that could enhance innovation in an organisation. The research framework served throughout the exploratory study to establish research methods, to create research instrument and to conduct interviews with a cross-section of members from three research organisations. In the final stage of the primary data analysis, the model of the Innovation Propensity was established that could reflect the organisational inclination to innovation. The major elements of this new and dynamic innovation model include variables formed around indicators such as the aptitudes to perceive new ideas, the predisposition to participate in innovation activities and the clarity of objectives during innovation. These identified determinants confirmed that organisational innovation is an individual and objective dependant activity requiring cooperation of an individual inventor and other people in an organisation. In addition, results of this research indicate that innovation in an organization has a much greater chance of success if it can be seen as a part of individual’s and organisational objective. Organisational innovation also seems to be sensitive to the recognition of individuals. It is possible that the abovementioned determinants are required for the ‘magic of innovation’ to occur in an organisation (Steiner 1995). Similar to some of the previous research conducted, this study aimed to unify and generalise its findings in order to deliver a new concept applicable to most organisations across various fields and types of industry. The findings of this research proved to be compatible with the key performance indicators of the examined organisations and demonstrated the similar positive orientation to conducted surveys. As a case study, this research examined and analysed the complex dimensions of organisational innovation, which is rich in detail and provided the practical examples of determinants leading to innovation.