Thesis (D. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2008 / In the twenty-first century knowledge landscape, companies are compelled to compete in a complex and challenging context, transformed by globalisation, technological development, new applications of knowledge and hyper-competition. This new economic landscape requires organisations to perform differently with their knowledge assets to survive and prosper. It has become crucial for organisations to reinvent themselves through new rubrics of leadership, which essentially requires radical change as post-modern perspectives on the knowledge economy emphasise the fluidity, and immediacy of information exchanges that are leveraged through creativity and innovation as the new future sustainable rent. Postmodernist contestations of modernist economic and organisational rationalities have successfully activated discourse from diverse audiences and immense contributions to contemporary knowledge-intensive organisational diagnoses have been proffered. A current issue, which urgently enquires into new conceptions of organisational leadership, is regarded as the global knowledge economy. This economy seeks new sources of inspiration and revitalisation within the dynamic, mutable domains of future knowledge competency construction and enactment. New forms of human capital are now required to manifest tacit and intellectual capacity through exponential creativity and innovation capabilities, rather than explicit production-driven modalities. Therefore, organisations must access this new talent that engages deeply with creative thinking, as they can no longer reproduce themselves within the old traditions of management and control. The need to conjure new aspects of leadership to harness and then transform novel solutions into action should create an environment enabled to validate creativity and innovation as the major building blocks for knowledge transfer and trading. The purpose of this study is to render solutions for future knowledge-intensive organisations and explore new methodologies where leadership realises the paramount importance to nurture the knowledge worker as the most important source of knowledge creation. This study explores the complex challenges faced by contemporary leadership in grasping future value propositions for advancing knowledge trading and offers suggestions to unlock creativity and innovation for the enhancement of knowledge productivity and the development of supportive managerial effectiveness. It is recommended that leadership requires a profound cultural shift from traditional methods of management that can be best described as control orientated, bureaucratic and autocratic. These former hierarchical management structures originated in the modernist paradigm of industrial capitalism. In contrast, contemporary knowledge management is defined within the post-modern debate, where authority is diffused throughout the organisation and leadership engages in sufficient reflexivity to facilitate a more effective understanding of the contemporary knowledge worker. Within this postmodern context, fluidity of knowledge-leadership could actively promote the immediacy of creative exchanges as foundational to deliver the future into the present. The findings suggest a new role for leadership acting as coach and innovation facilitator, rather than controller. Furthermore the findings indicate that creative leadership should involve knowledge workers in defining the mission, vision and strategic intent and secure participation in the knowledge philosophy to mould their respective knowledge roles within a supportive culture. The findings indicated that collaboration between knowledge workers and leadership is crucial to establish formal communities of practice. These, as opposed to informal exchanges amongst knowledge workers, are pivotal to the process of continuous reinvention and proffer the shifts that are essential to drive future knowledge competencies. The findings furthermore revealed that communities of practice should be formally encouraged by leadership who diffuses the strategic intent to initiate forums where formal learning and the sharing of skills occur and creativity is continually advanced. The result is the creation of repositories of knowledge and innovation networks within knowledge concomitance required to enhance knowledge performance and ultimately drive sustainable competitive advantage. The research findings produced novel suggestions to proffer new knowledge-trading opportunities. The recommendations address contemporary leadership to perpetually challenge communities of practice to seek new creative and innovative horisons. This would yield the competencies and capabilities required for improved knowledge performance, based on individual and collective creative contributions. It is imperative for creative leadership to imbibe a new corporate curriculum to embrace the necessary radical innovative approaches required in today’s hyper-competitive economy. The recommendations suggest that the harnessing of creative and innovative potentials of knowledge workers, through the development of the creativity dimensions, namely fluency and elaboration could yield dominant discourse as a central ingredient for collective learning. This, in turn, would propel exponential levels of knowledge productivity, which is the critical component required to drive economic sustainability. Knowledge-leading organisations need to unearth and exploit the economy of knowledge by tapping into subjective experience, creativity and intuitive reflexivity. This study endeavours to offer a compelling vision of the future and recommends an intelligent organisation of the future that utilises a new corporate curriculum achieved by creative leadership to leverage enhanced managerial effectiveness. Finally, a definition for creative leadership is proposed which promotes innovative awareness, fluency and elaboration through formalised communities of practice to leverage enhanced knowledge productivity by means of knowledge worker empowerment and two-way communication. Creating a high-involvement organisation also involves new choices with respect to organisational design. An effective design would be the entrenchment of an organisational culture where the knowledge worker is accountable for and involved in the future success of the organisation. It is recommended that future leadership can achieve new innovative value propositions by structuring new mental models for increased knowledge productivity. The knowledge concomitance model suggests solutions to manipulate and economise knowledge to produce a transformational fusion of discontinuous innovation, nurturing a new syntagma for future knowledge management practitioners.

The research describes how creativity in higher education can be introduced as a concept that could enhance the creative thinking and application of adult learners enrolled in the Advertising Management Diploma. A number of different routes were attempted in order to answer the research question „can creativity be taught? ‟ Cord and Clement (2010) stated that adult learners should be allowed to practice their skills and prior knowledge, and that the learning material should promote generic workplace skills. The research discovered that the learning material for the Advertising Management diploma does little to enhance or even cater for imagination and creative application. It is vital for accurate application to take place, as this will enhance creativity. The problem formation is centered on the lack of sufficient skills in using one‟s imagination to generate creative ideas. This research study included five research activities that employed a semi-structured interview that involved sessions spanning over a period of six months, aligned to the course material‟s learning outcomes, and creative application of such acquired knowledge. It was established that, in order to further the creative application of young adults, it is important that they are able to link theory to practical and so be able to create concrete examples of what they are capable of doing. / ABET and Youth Development / M. Ed. (Adult Education)

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The high degree of extant commoditisation of organizations and their value propositions in the financial services industry has necessitated organizations in the industry to seek differentiation from the competition. Innovation has generally been accepted as a way for organizations to create differentiation by adding value to the organization. Until recently the focus of innovation activities has been limited to the product or the service of the organization. Recent emphasis has however shifted the innovation mandate to more holistically consider the total experience the customer has when interacting with the organization. This study concerns itself with the organizational activities required to innovate the customer experience. The main argumentation adopted by the thesis suggests that organizations need to constantly leverage their connectivity, forward and backward in value systems, across organizational boundaries to enhance the customer experience innovatively. Leveraging the organization's connectivity creates advantages for both radical and incremental innovation management to thereby improve and sustain the organization's profitability. The study commences by critically analysing the total customer expenence and then describing how the customer experience can create differentiation for the organization. The second part of the study scrutinises innovation literature to gain an understanding of how and where organizations can benefit in the management of innovation. The third part of the study reveals multi-channel management as a method that can be utilised to deliver the customer experience innovatively and benefit the organization in the continuous innovation of the customer experience. The study culminates in a preliminary model that conceptualises the leveraging of connectivity in the innovation process necessary within the organization for the innovation of a differentiated customer experience. Limitations of the study are described, and recommendations are made for both further research and the application of the study to the business environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ondernemings in die finansiële dienste industrie ondervind huidiglik dat hul waardeproposisies relatief maklik in kommoditeite verander. Dit noodsaak ondernemings in hierdie industrie tot toenemende innoverende differensiasie om daardeur 'n voorsprong op konkurrente in die mark te verkry. Innovasie word algemeen aanvaar as die manier waarop organisasies waarde kan toevoeg om sodoende differensiasie te bewerkstellig. Tot onlangs was die fokus van innovasie-aktiwiteite beperk tot die produk of diens van 'n onderneming. Die moderne tendens is dat die klem in die innovasiemandaat verskuif om die totale ervaring in die interaksieproses tussen onderneming en kliënt holisties te benader. Hierdie studie konsentreer op die organisatoriese aktiwiteite wat benodig word in die innoveering van die kliënt se ervaring. Die hoof argument wat deur die tesis aanvaar word, beklemtoon dat ondernemings deurlopend hul konnektiwiteit voor- en terugwaarts in die waardesisteem, moet hefboom oor organisatoriese grense heen, om daardeur die innovasieproses van die kliënte-ervaring te bevorder. Om die onderneming se konnektiwiteit op hierdie wyse te hefboom, skep voordele vir beide radikale en inkrementele innovasie bestuur waardeur die onderneming se winsgewendheid volgehou en verbeter kan word. In die aanvang van die studie word gepoog om die totale verbruikerservaring krities te analiseer; daarna word uiteengesit hoe die kliënte-ervaring vir die onderneming differensiasie kan skep. Die tweede deel van die studie ondersoek literatuur wat betrekking het op innovasie om daardeur te verstaan hoe en waar ondernemings voordeel kan trek uit die bestuur van innovasie. Die derde deel van die studie stel multikanaal-bestuur voor as 'n metode om die beoogde kliënte-ervaring te weeg te bring, maar ook as 'n manier om die onderneming te bevoordeel in die deurlopende innovasie van die verbuiker se ervaring. Die studie resulteer in 'n voorlopige model wat die hefboom van konnektiwiteit in die innovasie proses vir 'n gedifferensieerde kliënte-ervaring konseptualiseer. Ten slotte word die beperkings van die studie omskryf en aanbevelings word gemaak vir beide navorsingsdoeleindes, en die toepassing van die studie tot die praktiese sakeomgewing.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In vandag se besigheidswêreld bestaan twee teenoorgestelde pole. Aan die een kant is die wêreld se gevorderde markte wat reeds so oorbevolk geraak het, dat dubbelsyfergroei ‘n skaars verskynsel is. Ten spyte hiervan word aanhoudende druk geplaas op senior bestuur om hulle besighede te groei teen koerse wat ‘n toename in aandeelhouersbelang sal verseker. Aan die ander kant is twee derdes van die wêreld se bevolking (4 Miljard mense), die sogenaamde basis van die ekonomiese piramiede (BVP), wat in armoede lewe en afgeskeep word in terme van noodsaaklike goedere en dienste, om nie eens te praat van weelde artikels nie. In dié markte is dubbelsyfergroei nog behaalbaar en in meeste gevalle is die enigste kompetisie die gevaar dat produkte nie verbruik word nie. Dié navorsing kyk na hoe dié twee pole geïntegreer kan word sodat beide daaruit kan voordeel trek. Besighede kan volhoubare vlakke van groei bewerkstellig deur ewe veel aandag te skenk aan volhoubare innovasies as ontwrigtende innovasies. Die klem wat gemaak word in dié navorsingsverlsag is dat besighede dit nie kan bekostig om net op volhoubare innovasies te fokus nie. Hulle moet ook in ontwrigtende innovasie strategieë belê. Die innovasie teorieë bepaal dat opkomende markte die beste plek is om ontwrigtende innovasies te ontwikkel. Verskeie multi-nasionale maatskappye het al egter misluk om die belowende massa-markte binne opkomende markte te penetreer. Die rede is dat baie van hul globale strategieë mik na die ontwikkelde marksegmente binne-in daardie ontwikkelende markte en nie op die massa-markte aan die BVP nie. Om tegnologieë te ontwikkel vir die BVP verg plaaslike strategieë en, onder andere, ‘n kwantum sprong in die prys-werkverrigting verhouding. In baie gevalle kan dit ‘n daling in prys wees met soveel as ‘n faktor van tien. Indien suksesvol, bestaan die moontlik dan om dié tegnologieë terug te vat om gevorderde markte te ontwrig. Daar is egter ook ‘n humanitêre sy van die saak. Elke jaar is armoede indirek verantwoordelik vir miljoene sterftes in Afrika en baie oorlewendes leef in haglike omstandighede sonder noodsaaklike goedere en dienste, terwyl hulle uitgebuit word deur ‘n paar informele besighede. Die BVP bied aan die gevorderde ekonomieë van die wêreld nie net die geleentheid om baie geld te maak nie, maar ook die geleentheid om op só ‘n manier besigheid te doen dat dit arm mense kan help om ‘n inkomste te verdien of selfs inkomste te genereer. Dit kan op baie verskillende maniere help om dié mense te lig vanuit armoede. Dit wil voorkom asof besigheid en die moontlikheid om welvaart te skep die mees effektiewe manier is om die BVP te lig vanuit armoede. Die BVP het egter die kennis, verantwoordelike besigheids-sin en die onderhandelingskrag van multi-nasionale besighede nodig om te verseker dat besigheid in dié markte op ‘n verantwoordlike, volhoubare manier geskied. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In today’s world of business two opposite poles exist. On the one end is the world’s developed economy that has become saturated to such an extent that double digit growth has become a scarcity. However despite this fact continuous pressure is being placed on managers to grow their companies at a rate that will ensure an increase in shareholder value. On the other end are two thirds of the world’s population (4 billion people), the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) that is desperately poor and underserved in terms of basic needs, let alone luxury items. Double digit growth is achievable in these markets with the only competition being non-consumption in many cases. This research looks at how these two poles can be integrated into a mutually beneficial relationship. Companies could ensure sustaining levels of growth if there is an equal focus on sustainable as well as disruptive innovations. The case made in this research report is that companies cannot afford to focus on sustainable innovations alone, but need to invest in disruptive innovations as well. The innovation theories hold that the best place to test and develop disruptive innovations is in emerging markets. However too many multinational corporations (MNCs) have failed to access the illusive mass markets within emerging economies. It seems that their strategies were focussed on the developed segments within those emerging markets and not on the masses that constitute the BOP. Developing technologies for the BOP requires a local strategy and, amongst other things, a quantum leap in the price-performance ratio - in many cases a typical reduction in price by a factor of ten. The possibility then exists to take these solutions back to disrupt developed markets. There is a human aspect to this scenario as well. Poverty has indirectly been a cause of millions of people dying in Africa every year and many survivors live in poor conditions without basic services and being exploited by few informal businesses. The BOP offers an opportunity for the developed economies, not only to make a lot of money, but also to innovate their products and business models to empower poor people to start earning and generating income. This will in many ways help them to rise from poverty. It seems that growing business and generating wealth might be the most efficient vehicle to help lift the BOP from poverty. However, the BOP needs MNCs to bring their power and knowledge to these markets to ensure that it is done responsibly and in a sustainable manner.

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It has been suggested that without the ability to innovate, an organisation will not be able to survive the demands of an ever-changing operating environment. This raises the question: How can organisations ensure that they are able to innovate? Organisational culture has been identified as a critical variable in answering this question. The culture of the organisation determines to a large extent the degree of innovation in that organisation. Business leaders have made attempts to nurture a culture of creativity and innovation in their organisations through the recruitment of dynamic individuals with innovative traits. However, most of their attempts seemed insufficient in achieving their goals. The primary purpose of this research is to develop a framework for organisational culture that characterises an innovative organisation in small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The secondary objective is to identify the enablers and inhibitors of innovation. Research method: The research approach starts with a review of existing literature. This is followed by the development of the theory and empirical research. Data collection was also carried out in the form of semi-structured interviews with senior and middle management in innovative SMMEs. Main findings: The analysis of the findings indicates that an organisation cannot focus on any single aspect of organisational culture. Innovation is a system in the organisation that is strongly guided by the culture of the organisation. Recommendations: Future research on this subject will benefit from the selection of a larger sample of data. Given the dynamic nature of innovation and organisational culture, it is recommended to repeat this research over time in order to explore whether the same dimensions in determining innovative organisational culture still apply. The current research can also be followed up by a study on the sources of innovation in an organisation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Inleiding: Sonder die vermoë om te kan innoveer, sal ’n organisasie nie kan oorleef in ’n bedryfsomgewing wat voortdurend verander nie. Dit laat die vraag ontstaan: Hoe kan organisasies seker maak hulle die vermoë het om te innoveer? Organisasiekultuur is geïdentifiseer as ’n kritiese veranderlike in die beantwoording van hierdie vraag. Die kultuur van ’n organisasie bepaal grootliks die mate van innovering in daardie organisasie. Sakeleiers probeer om ’n kultuur van kreatiwiteit en innovering in hul organisasies te koester deur dinamiese individue met innoverende karaktereienskappe te werf. Dit blyk egter dat die meeste van hul pogings nie daarin kan slaag om hul doelwitte te bereik nie. Die primêre doel van hierdie navorsing is om ’n raamwerk vir organisatoriese kultuur te ontwikkel wat ’n innoverende organisasie in klein, medium-grootte en mikro ondernemings (KMMO’s) kenmerk. Die sekondêre doelwit is om die moontlikmakers en inhibeerders van innovering te identifiseer. Navorsingsmetode: Die navorsingsbenadering begin met ’n oorsig van bestaande literatuur. Dit word gevolg deur die ontwikkeling van die teorie en empiriese navorsing. Data-insameling is uitgevoer in die vorm van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met senior en middelvlakbestuurders van innoverende KMMO’s. Vernaamste bevindinge: Die ontleding van die bevindinge dui daarop dat ’n organisasie nie op een enkele aspek van organisasiekultuur kan fokus nie. Innovering is ’n stelsel in die organisasie wat baie sterk deur die kultuur van die organisasie beïnvloed word. Aanbevelings: Toekomstige navorsing oor hierdie onderwerp sal baat vind by die seleksie van ’n groter steekproef van data. Gegewe die dinamiese aard van innovering en organisatoriese kultuur, word daar aanbeveel dat hierdie navorsing mettertyd herhaal word om uit te vind of dieselfde dimensies vir die bepaling van innoverende organisatoriese kultuur steeds van toepassing is. Die huidige navorsing kan ook opgevolg word deur ’n studie oor die bronne van innovering in ’n organisasie.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research report aims to show how futures studies or foresight techniques, especially causal layered analysis (CLA), can enrich the attempts of organisations to innovate. The study discusses the importance of innovation for organisations and shows that innovation is deeply rooted in the knowledge economy. The nature of innovation is explored as well as the different types and degrees of innovation. An integrated innovation model is proposed which is used to establish some of the key challenges which arise from the innovation process. The challenges are expanded to take into consideration those challenges which arise from the approach organisations take to innovation as well as some of the innovation challenges which arise from the underlying organisational culture. The nature of futures studies is discussed from the perspective of an approach and field of study for creating knowledge and facilitating understanding. This ability of futures studies is explored further to show how it can address some of the challenges which arise from innovation. The study further explores the ability of causal layered analysis, a foresight technique; not only to address some of the innovation challenges but to enrich the innovation process by providing depth and breadth in the analysis of the problem through creating an understanding of the deeply rooted drivers and viewing the problem from different perspectives, effectively expanding the solution set and creating a platform for identifying latent needs and opportunities. Causal layered analysis is applied to three of the top thirty innovations of the last three decades, testing the hypothesis that successful innovation transcends and addresses needs at the deeper layers. It is shown that innovations which are able to address needs in the deeper levels get embedded in our daily lives and as a result become more enduring. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsings projek beoog om te wys dat toekomsstudies en die tegnieke in die studie veld, spesifiek “causal layered analysis”, waarde kan toevoeg tot die innoverings probeerslae van organisasies. Die studie bespreek die belangrikheid van innovering vir organisasies en wys dat innovasie diep gewortel is in die kennis ekonomie. Die aard van innovering word ondersoek sowel as die verskillende tipes en grade daarvan. ‘n Ge-integreerde innoverings model word voorgestel en word gebruik om van die belangrike uitdagings in die innovasie proses te identifiseer. Daar word uitgebrei op hierdie uitdagings deur in ag te neem die benadering wat organisasies neem tot innovering asook die uitdagings wat voortspruit uit die onderliggende kultuur in die organisasie. Die aard van toekomstudies word bespreek uit die oogpunt van die benadering van die studie veld om kennis te skep en begrip te bewerkstellig. Die vermoë van toekomstudies om die uitdagings wat deur innovasie onstaan word verder ondersoek. Die studie ondersoek ook die vermoë van “causal layered analysis”, as ‘n toekoms tegniek, nie net om die innoverings uitdagings te adresseer nie, maar ook deur die verryking van die innoverings proses waardeur begrip geskep word. Begrip volg deur die diepte en wydheid van die analise van die probleem, asook deur die probleem vanuit verskeie oogpunte te benader. Hierdeur word daar meer moontlike oplossings blootgelê en word daar geleentheid geskep om nuwe geleenthede te identifiseer. “Causal layered analysis” word ook toegepas op drie van die top dertig innovasies van die laaste drie dekades om die hipotese te toets dat suksesvolle innovasies, behoeftes in al die lae aanspreek, spesifiek in die diepliggende areas. Die studie wys dat innovasies wat behoeftes in die diepliggende areas aanspreek deel word van ons alledaagse lewe en sodoende meer langdurig word.

The preoperational stage of a new venture is characterized by concept definition, idea enhancement, and strategy formulation. Entrepreneurs consult advisors in knowledge sharing activities. Trust is dominant in these entrepreneur-advisor relationships as entrepreneurs rely on an advisor's judgment to keep venture ideas away from competitors. However, the relationships between trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture are not directly examined in many research studies. Concerning types of trust, McAllister (1995) defines two types of interpersonal trust: affective trust, which develops from emotional bonds between individuals, and calculative trust, which is based on an individual's level of competence and reliability. The present study applies McAllister's (1995) theory of types of trust to Kale, Singh, and Perlmutter (2000) findings to examine how trust relationships between entrepreneurs and advisors affect knowledge sharing and an entrepreneur's use of NDAs. This dissertation's research primary question is, "How does trust between an entrepreneur and advisors affect knowledge sharing and choices of knowledge security mechanisms during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture?" I used de Koning and Muzyka's (1999) classification of the entrepreneur's social context to define three advisor types: Close Friends, Business Associates, and Licensed Professionals. Linking these types with literature on trust and knowledge, I hypothesize seven relationships dealing with trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security. I used structured and non-structured interview formats to collect data on 143 entrepreneur/advisor relationships in South Florida. / The results confirmed that relationship length significantly contributed to affective trust and entrepreneurs were more likely to share knowledge with Business Associates than with Close Friends or Licen found t o be the dominant form of trust driving knowledge sharing but affective trust was not significantly found to impact the use of NDAs. Entrepreneurs expected all advisor types to be competent, experienced, and skilled, reporting nonsignificant differences in calculative trust across advisor types. I did not find the use of NDAs to be associated with any particular advisor type. Rather, NDAs were seldom used during the preoperational stage for reasons such as the entrepreneurs' desires to maintain positive relationships with advisors, along with their reliance on a strong institutional background. / by Abiola Omoyeni Fanimokun. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Innovation is one of the most important sources of competitive advantage. It helps a company to fuel the growth of new products and services, sustain incumbents, create new markets, transform industries, and promote the global competitiveness of nations. Because of its importance, companies need to manage innovation. It is very important for a company to be able to measure its innovativeness because one cannot effectively manage without measurement. A good measurement model will help a company to understand its current capability and identify areas that need improvement. In this research a systematic approach was developed for a company to measure its innovativeness. The measurement of innovativeness is based on output indicators. Output indicators are used because they cannot be manipulated. A hierarchical decision model (HDM) was constructed from output indicators. The hierarchy consisted of three levels: innovativeness index, output indicators and sub-factors. Experts' opinions were collected and quantified. A new concept developed by Dr. Dundar Kocaoglu and referred to as "desirability functions" was implemented in this research. Inconsistency of individual experts, disagreement among experts, intraclass correlation coefficients and statistical F-tests were calculated to test the reliability of the experts' judgments. Sensitivity analysis was used to test the sensitivity of the output indicators, which indicated the allowable range of the changes in the output indicators in order to maintain the priority of the sub-factors. The outcome of this research is a decision model/framework that provides an innovativeness index based on readily measurable company output indicators. The model was applied to product innovation in the technology-driven semiconductor industry. Five hypothetical companies were developed to simulate the application of the model/framework. The profiles of the hypothetical companies were varied considerably to provide a deeper understanding of the model/framework. Actual data from two major corporations in the semiconductor industry were then used to demonstrate the application of the model. According to the experts, the top three sub-factors to measure the innovativeness of a company are revenue from new products (28%), market share of new products (21%), and products that are new to the world (20%).

This thesis addresses important operational aspects relating to fundamental components of any successfully executed NPD strategy: the processes, incentives and structure of decision rights that should be implemented given the objectives and capabilities of the firm. The first chapter outlines when a firm might prefer to compensate members of a NPD project team either, as individuals (e.g. based on their functional contribution to overall value) or as a team (e.g. based on the overall profit generated). We find that neither team nor individual based compensation is preferred for all types of projects. Specifically, when there is higher uncertainty, the firm can benefit by employing team-based compensation. We discuss the implications of our findings towards the firm's ability to pursue different types of projects. In Chapter 3, we look at the strategic resource allocation processes that are employed by firms in order to decide whether NPD initiatives get funded or not. We find that there is not a "one size fits all" resource allocation process that all firms should employ. Furthermore,we extend this finding by further by providing a rationale explaining why even a single firm could benefit by employing multiple processes internal to the firm. Finally, in Chapter 4, we empirically explore how key managerial levers of the firm (i.e. incentives, tolerance for failure, and project management structure) affect an individual's propensity to invest in a project. Our analysis brings forth several under-explored and novel aspects. We examine how multiple managerial levers work in concert with one another (revealing interactions that, to our knowledge, have not been exposed). We also recognize an important aspect of most (if not all) NPD contexts: the probability of success is strongly tied to the level of resources that are invested.

Knowledge about the antecedents to and the consequences of innovation is often studied in a fragmented way, resulting in an incomplete understanding of the dynamics that drive organisational performance. The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive model explaining the relationship between leadership style, organisational climate, innovation and organisational performance. The systematic literature review procedure was used to identify, analyse and critically evaluate studies that examined the relationship between leadership style, organisational climate, innovation and organisational performance. Given this information as background a cross-sectional survey design was used to test the relationship between the named variables. Firstly, a measurement model was tested with data collected from 3 180 respondents, representing 52 companies. Secondly, a structural path model was tested, with data collected from 231 employees representing 112 companies. The findings of the systematic literature review revealed that empirical studies that link the four variables are scarce; in the main, combinations of three variables are found. It also revealed that measures of innovation and performance vary vastly, inhibiting the incremental development of a comprehensive empirical body of knowledge. The results of the measurement model substantiated differentiation between leadership styles and the expected positive correlation between both transformational and transactional leadership and innovative behaviour. Furthermore, the results showed that not all components of leadership impacted positively on innovative behaviours. The structural path model showed that a transformational leadership style has a direct impact on the organisational climate, innovation and organisational performance. In contrast, a transactional leadership style had a direct impact on organisational performance, but no relationship was found between transactional leadership style and organisational climate and innovation. This study is important as it provides a unified model of innovation that focuses on both antecedents, as well as the outcomes of innovation, in a more comprehensive manner than any previous study. / Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL / DBL