The Psychology of Innovation in Organizations

In today's highly competitive market, organizations increasingly need to innovate in order to survive. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research in the field of creativity, David H. Cropley and Arthur J. Cropley illustrate practical methods for conceptualizing and managing organizational innovation. They present a dynamic model of the interactions between four key components of creativity - product, person, process, and press - which function as building blocks of innovation. This volume sheds new light on the nature of innovative products and the processes that generate them, the psychological characteristics of innovative people, and the environments that facilitate innovation. It also fills a significant gap in the current literature by addressing the paradoxical quality of organizational innovation, which may be both helped and hindered by the same factors. The authors demonstrate that with proper measurement and management, organizations can effectively encourage individuals to produce and take advantage of novel ideas. 'While the first part of this carefully researched and well-written book focuses on the basic building blocks of innovation, the second part shows in detailed yet practical terms how to measure aspects of your organization to marshal them for innovation. Logical and useful, this work provides resources for managers and educators alike. Great discussion of the paradoxes of innovation and good reviews of assessment measures set the stage for the introduction of the authors' comprehensive innovation assessment measure, the IPAI. Using a systems approach, these accomplished authors overcome the failures of previous methods by addressing each aspect in context, not as a static, isolated element of the process. Bravo!' Susan P. Besemer, PhD '[This book] provides a great review of the current research and theoretical developments in the field of creativity and innovation. It effectively integrates work from psychology and management as well as design and entrepreneurship. One important feature of the book, which distinguishes it from others, is that the authors discuss not only the various factors that can influence creativity, but also what tools can be used to measure these factors. Cropley and Cropley, however, go beyond just a summary of previous work. This makes this book not only an effective textbook for a class on creativity and innovation, but also a great book for researchers of creativity. They suggest that to understand creativity, we must adopt a system view that integrates all these components. While the system approach itself is not novel, the integration suggested by Cropley and Cropley is.' Roni Reiter-Palmon, PhD, University of Nebraska, Omaha 'This engaging, incisive book first covers the basics of what any leader, consultant, or researcher needs to know about innovation and then offers specific and practical ways for implementing and nourishing it. This is required reading for anyone who wants to build or maintain the creativity within their organization.' James C. Kaufman, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut1. Understanding innovation: a reorientation; Part I. Basic Concepts: 2. Products: what does innovation lead to?; 3. Process: how are innovative ideas formed?; 4. Person: the personal resources that support innovation; 5. Press: where the innovation happens?; Part II. Managing Innovation: 6. Paradox: the contradictions of innovation; 7. Measuring the building blocks of innovation; 8. Innovation and organizational performance; 9. Managing the paradoxes of innovation; 10. General conclusions.