PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INNOVATORS — AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ROLES IN INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Martina N. Mansfeld (), Katharina Hölzle () and Hans Georg Gemünden ()
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Martina N. Mansfeld: Robert Bosch GmbH, Corporate Organizational, Development and Efficient Processes (C/HDO), Borsigstr. 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany
Katharina Hölzle: Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Hans Georg Gemünden: Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2010, vol. 14, issue 06, 1129-1147

Abstract: First and foremost, innovation is driven by people. These people have specific personal characteristics and fulfil designated roles in innovation management. We have conducted an empirical study among 190 employees in R&D departments of mature international firms from four different countries (Germany, U.S.A., Great Britain and Switzerland) currently working on innovation projects. Using multivariate analyses, we could identify personal characteristics associated with different roles people can take over the course of an innovation project. These roles are called expert, power, process or relationship promotor as well as champion. The identified personal characteristics exhibit a distinctive pattern in their combined occurrence for each role. Our results show a detailed picture of specific personal characteristics of individuals, so called innovators, necessary for successful innovation. Based on these findings, we derive recommendations for a targeted human resource acquisition and a better selection of employees for successful innovation teams.

Keywords: Innovators; personal characteristics; promotors; champions; motivation; commitment; autonomy; innovation; innovation management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919610003033

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