Truly understanding the culture-innovation link is an indispensable element in mastering the challenges of today’s fast-changing world. This requires a clear view of the pursuit of an innovation-ready company climate, and especially the determination of decisive drivers and process dynamics in this context. It is therefore a subject of high relevance to both academics and practitioners.
Although it builds on the rich foundation of cultural studies, and is an academic research stream as old as organizational interaction itself, the topic at hand is far from outdated. Indeed, as the very recent upturn in the number of publications in top notch professional literature demonstrates, the concepts of culture and innovation are highly topical and the world’s interest in them unbroken. Even though leading researchers explicitly call for a holistic investigation of the culture-innovation link and suitable research design, empirical knowledge remains fragmented in terms of the distinct conditions of innovation climate creation.
By analyzing drivers and process dynamics of perceived innovation climate development (PICD), this dissertation addresses this relevant research gap. The extensive empirical study, embodying a qualitative, anthropological research design with a grounded theory approach to analytics, carves out the determinants of perceived innovation climate advancement. Further, it sheds light on distinct process stages, as well as potential cases of and remedies to process malfunctioning. Finally, the role and task profile of a dedicated Corporate Innovation Management (CIM) unit within this context is determined.
In summary, this research study presents a sophisticated grounded theory model, entailing a set of leadership-, culture-, and structure-related drivers, internal and external supporting conditions, and a six-stage process of innovation climate development. These novel insights contribute to a deeper understanding of the culture-innovation link and carry essential implications for researchers and practitioners alike. By offering a concrete, theoretical frame and a practitioners’ guideline, the developed model can provide particular support to corporate leaders in purposefully steering their companies’ quest towards a climate of innovation.