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Organizational climate for innovation and creativity – a study in Swedish retail organizations

Batingan Paredes, Karla Marie LU orcid ; Olsson, Annika LU orcid ; Olander Roese, Malin LU ; Johansson, Ulf LU and Ritzén, Sofia (2019) In International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research 29(3). p.243-261
Abstract
Innovation in retailing is under-investigated in academia and yet a highly relevant concern given the current changes in the retail landscape. Although retailing is often characterized by a dynamic and highly competitive environment, retail organi- zations are not often considered as ‘innovative,’ at least when compared with manufacturing industries, or when using exist- ing innovation frameworks in academic literature. There are many aspects of innovation discussed in literature and a need to consider different ways of looking into retail’s inno- vativeness. Among them, the importance of organizational climate on influencing creativity and innovation may help explain how to enable innovation in service organizations, such as retailers.... (More)
Innovation in retailing is under-investigated in academia and yet a highly relevant concern given the current changes in the retail landscape. Although retailing is often characterized by a dynamic and highly competitive environment, retail organi- zations are not often considered as ‘innovative,’ at least when compared with manufacturing industries, or when using exist- ing innovation frameworks in academic literature. There are many aspects of innovation discussed in literature and a need to consider different ways of looking into retail’s inno- vativeness. Among them, the importance of organizational climate on influencing creativity and innovation may help explain how to enable innovation in service organizations, such as retailers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the climate for innovation and creativity and examine how retail organizations perceive it. We applied a mixed-methods approach using an established organizational climate survey and semi-structured, one-on-one interviews regarding the innovation climate and other aspects of innovation manage- ment in the companies. The study shows that despite retail organizations still struggling to incorporate innovation on a strategic level and move beyond incremental developments in their operations, retailers score positively on being innova- tive regarding certain dimensions of the organizational climate survey. This indicates that retailers (especially conventional ones) could benefit from challenging current practices and moving towards becoming more active and strategic innova- tors since their organizational climate to a certain extent allows for it. Respondents within the organizations also express a need for better innovation support, whether it is through established structures and processes or an improve- ment in the current conditions of the organizational climate. How retailers could enable themselves to become more active innovators – based on what we know that retailers look more towards entrepreneurship and continuous development as a driving force rather than formalized innovation practices per se – is a potential avenue for further research. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Organizational climate, innovation, creative climate, retail, retail innovation
in
International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research
volume
29
issue
3
pages
243 - 261
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85074849092
ISSN
0959-3969
DOI
10.1080/09593969.2019.1598470
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
35669582-e52c-4541-b962-42b4b37b58d0
date added to LUP
2019-08-19 20:52:58
date last changed
2022-10-31 00:50:47
@article{35669582-e52c-4541-b962-42b4b37b58d0,
  abstract     = {{Innovation in retailing is under-investigated in academia and yet a highly relevant concern given the current changes in the retail landscape. Although retailing is often characterized by a dynamic and highly competitive environment, retail organi- zations are not often considered as ‘innovative,’ at least when compared with manufacturing industries, or when using exist- ing innovation frameworks in academic literature. There are many aspects of innovation discussed in literature and a need to consider different ways of looking into retail’s inno- vativeness. Among them, the importance of organizational climate on influencing creativity and innovation may help explain how to enable innovation in service organizations, such as retailers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the climate for innovation and creativity and examine how retail organizations perceive it. We applied a mixed-methods approach using an established organizational climate survey and semi-structured, one-on-one interviews regarding the innovation climate and other aspects of innovation manage- ment in the companies. The study shows that despite retail organizations still struggling to incorporate innovation on a strategic level and move beyond incremental developments in their operations, retailers score positively on being innova- tive regarding certain dimensions of the organizational climate survey. This indicates that retailers (especially conventional ones) could benefit from challenging current practices and moving towards becoming more active and strategic innova- tors since their organizational climate to a certain extent allows for it. Respondents within the organizations also express a need for better innovation support, whether it is through established structures and processes or an improve- ment in the current conditions of the organizational climate. How retailers could enable themselves to become more active innovators – based on what we know that retailers look more towards entrepreneurship and continuous development as a driving force rather than formalized innovation practices per se – is a potential avenue for further research.}},
  author       = {{Batingan Paredes, Karla Marie and Olsson, Annika and Olander Roese, Malin and Johansson, Ulf and Ritzén, Sofia}},
  issn         = {{0959-3969}},
  keywords     = {{Organizational climate; innovation; creative climate; retail; retail innovation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{243--261}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research}},
  title        = {{Organizational climate for innovation and creativity – a study in Swedish retail organizations}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2019.1598470}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/09593969.2019.1598470}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}