Innovation is increasingly identified as the critical factorin ensuring economic competitiveness. Departments of state andquasi-governmental organizations in many countries including,Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands,Sweden and the UK, have issued reports and calls to action; butimplementation will continue to be problematic unless the pointsmade in this book are taken into account.
Drawing on 350 in-depth interviews with senior managers, thisbook presents an original theory about the characteristics ofmanagers in "good innovative organizations" and"poor innovative organizations". It pays closeattention to the attitudes, understandings, assumptions andinterpretations of managers, who are often the ultimatedecision-makers when it comes to innovation. The text is supportedby real-life, internationally-known cases such as Hewlett-Packard,Zeneca and the BBC, as well as voluntary sector cases such asOxfam. It is also enriched by substantial and highly revealingquotations from senior managers themselves.