Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine the creative environment in an enterprise with global reach, an SME global challenger, and to identify factors that are critical to building a sustainable competitive advantage in a high-value technological industry such as clinical research. The creativity preferences and internal environmental profile of BetaNova, an SME from India, is assessed in a post-merger integration (PMI) scenario. Organisational factors related to shaping creative work culture are identified as a first step towards building theory, as this area of management is as yet unexplored.
Design/methodology/approach – As existing research is sparse in this area, the study used an exploratory research followed by a survey of key employees of BetaNova, with the objective of examining the internal creative environment and how its leadership can better realise creativity and innovation synergies. Key levers of creative environment and management are identified, and the impact of an enabling environment on innovation success discussed.
Findings – The current internal creative environmental profile of BetaNova is analysed. The research identifies factors in developing a creative environment and in resolving creativity-related cross-border integration issues. Findings reveal that while cultural settings can affect employees’ creativity, to communication and learning, opportunities may have a greater impact.
Practical implications – The research outcomes identify implications for the leadership of SME global challenger such as BetaNova in PMI scenarios and provide clear signposts to building intercultural creative environments.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Technology acquisitions is defined as transactions in which the acquired firm operates in a technology industry such as networking equipment, software, medical devices, semiconductors or biotechnology.
- 2.
The terms creativity and innovation were used interchangeably during interviews, as it provides a true reflection of how these constructs are referred to in real life.
- 3.
The four phases of creativity are (1) problem identification, (2) incubation time to think about a solution, (3) the ‘aha’ moment when you think of an idea and (4) action to share the idea with others.
- 4.
Unless otherwise indicated, results were tested and found significant at the 0.05 confidence level.
References
Amabile T (1996) Creativity and innovation in organizations. Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston
Athreye SS (2005) The Indian software industry and its evolving service capability. Ind Corp Change 14(3):393–418
Autio E, Sapienza HJ, Almeida JG (2000) Effects of age at entry, knowledge intensity, and imitability on international growth. Acad Manage J 43(5):909–925
Carayannopoulos S (2009) How technology-based new firms leverage newness and smallness to commercialize disruptive technologies. Entrep Theory Pract 33(2):419–438. Wiley-Blackwell
Churchill G (1979) A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. J Mark Res 16(1):64–73
Churchill C, Lewis VL (1983) The five stages of small business growth. Harv Bus Rev 61(3):30–50
D’Este P (2002) The distinctive patterns of capabilities accumulation and inter-firm heterogeneity: the case of the Spanish pharmaceutical industry. Ind Corp Change 11(4):847–874
Delmar F, Shane S (2003) Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures? Strateg Manage J 24(12):1165–1186
Doz Y, Shuen A (1990) From intent to outcome: a process framework for partnerships. INSEAD Working Paper
Eisenhardt KM, Martin JA (2000) Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strateg Manage J 21:1105–1121
Finkelstein S, Haleblian J (2002) Understanding acquisition performance: the role of transfer effects. Organ Sci 13(1):36–47
Fong TT (2006) The effects of emotional ambiguity on creativity. Acad Manage J 49:1016–1030
Ghemawat P, Hout TM (2009) China and India take on the multinationals. Financial Times, February 9
Grant RM (1996) Prospering in dynamically competitive environments. Organ Sci 7(4):375–387
Gray PH, Meister DB (2004) Knowledge sourcing effectiveness. Manage Sci 50(6):821–834
Hayward M (2002) When do firms learn from their acquisition experience? Evidence from 1990-1995. Strateg Manage J 23:21–39
Hitt MA, Ireland RD, Camp SM, Sexton DL (2001) Strategic entrepreneurship: entrepreneurial strategies for wealth creation. Strateg Manage J 22:479–491
Kogut B, Zander U (1992) Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organ Sci 3:383–397
Lane PJ, Lubatkin M (1998) Relative absorptive capacity and inter-organizational learning. Strat Manag J 19(5):416–477
MacKinnon DW (1962) The personality correlates of creativity: a study of American architects. Proc Fourteen Cong Appl Psychol 2:11–39
Martins EC, Terblanche F (2003) Building organisational culture that stimulates creativity and innovation. Eur J Innov Manage 6(1):64–74
Mody A (1993) Learning through alliances. J Econ Behav Organ 20(2):151–170
Mumford MD, Scott GM, Gladdis B, Strange JM (2002) Leading creative people: orchestrating expertise and relationships. Leadersh Q 13:705–750
Priem RL, Butler JE (2001) Is the resource-based ‘view’ a useful perspective for strategic management research? Acad Manage Rev 26(1):22–40
Ramamurti R (2008) What have we learned about emerging-market MNEs? (chapter 13). In: Ramamurti R, Singh JV (eds) Emerging multinationals from emerging markets. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Ramamurti R (2012) Competing with emerging market multinationals. Bus Horizons 55(3):241–249, Published for the Kelly School of Business, Indiana University
Schumpeter JA (1934) The theory of economic development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Spender JC (1996) Making knowledge the basis of a dynamic theory of the firm. Strateg Manage J 17(Winter special issue):45–62
Teece D (2007) Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and micro-foundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strateg Manage J 28(13):1319–1350
Van de Ven AH, Polley D (1992) Learning while innovating. Organ Sci 3(1):32–67
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer India
About this paper
Cite this paper
Sastry, S. (2013). Critical Factors in Managing Creativity in an SME Global Challenger. In: Mukhopadhyay, C., et al. Driving the Economy through Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Springer, India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-0746-7_49
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-0746-7_49
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, India
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-0745-0
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-0746-7
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)