LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION.

More than 70 percent of the senior executives in a survey conducted recently revealed that innovation will be at least one of the top three drivers of growth for their companies in the next three to five years. Other executives see innovation as the most important way for companies to accelerate the pace of change in today's global business environment. Leading strategic thinkers are moving beyond a focus on traditional product and service categories to pioneer innovations in business processes, distribution, value chains, business models, and even the functions of management.

There are no best-practice solutions to seed and cultivate innovation. The structures and processes that many leaders reflexively use to encourage it are important, but not sufficient. On the contrary, senior executives almost unanimously - 94 percent - say that people and corporate culture are the most important drivers of innovation. Our experience convinces us that a disciplined focus on three people-management fundamentals may produce the building blocks of an innovative organization. The first step is to formally integrate innovation into the strategicmanagement agenda of senior leaders to the extent that few companies have done so far. In this way, innovation can be not only encouraged but also managed, tracked, and measured as a core element in a company's growth aspirations. Second, executives can make better use of existing (and often untapped) talent for innovation, without implementing disruptive change programs, by creating the conditions that allow dynamic innovation networks to emerge and flourish. Finally, they can take specific steps to foster an innovation culture based on trust among employees. In such a culture, people understand that their ideas are valued, trust that it is safe to express those ideas and oversee risk collectively, together with their managers. Such an environment can be more effective than monetary incentives in sustaining innovation

Questions1. Evaluate and explain the importance of innovation to the success of a business or business organization of your choice [ 5 marks]

2. How leaders can use OD to assist with strategies to include and promote a culture of innovation?[5 marks]Provide at least one example from PICs to explain each of the above questions.