A favorable environment for the development of innovations and organizational culture: integration of two analytical perspectives

Abstract

The objective of this study was to propose an analytical view of innovation-friendly environments, including the Organizational Culture variable in them, however. The basis of the analysis is the adaptation of the methodology proposed by Van de Ven, Angle and Poole (2000). The contribution of this article lies in an adaptation of the methodology, by transferring its focus from innovation process to innovation environment. To take the entire environment into account, it was necessary to incorporate an analysis of collective organizational behaviors. Issues involving aspects of organizational culture were added from the viewpoint of the studies of Bates et al. (1995). The questionnaire proposed by the Minnesota Innovation Research Program (MIRP), with 45 questions adapted to survey the environment of innovation, was applied to 349 employees of a large company in the metalworking-mechanics sector. Using the technique of structural equation modeling (SEM), the researchers tested the model that resulted from the MIRP, considering the internal and external dimensions of the innovation group and the results derived from the innovation environment. After this, a new test with the incorporation of the variable organizational culture was performed. The results showed that the second test resulted in a better fit (roughly 27%), indicating that the variable had an impact on the modeling results. It is worth highlighting that the presented construct was based on a theoretical survey and that its validation calls for a wider range of empirical results.