The importance of building a culture of innovation in a recession

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine how corporate culture can be harnessed to foster radical innovation in a recession.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the findings of a survey and archival data from 750 public firms in various manufacturing industries across 17 major economies of the world in 2003‐2004. The firms in the sample come from developed economies such as the USA, UK, Germany and Japan, as well as developing economies such as China and India, thus allowing the comparison of the drivers of innovation across very different national contexts.

Findings

The paper finds that, if certain attitudes, practices and behaviours are shared by members of a firm, it is more likely to have a forward‐looking, risk‐taking culture.

Practical limitations/implications

Managers can benchmark their corporate culture against three crucial attitudes and three related practices.

Originality/value

Previous studies have focused on how national policies drive innovation; the paper challenges those conventional views. This work can enable HR managers to overcome the challenges posed by the economic climate to develop a more enterprising corporate culture.

Citation

Prabhu, J. (2010), "The importance of building a culture of innovation in a recession", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/14754391011022208