Management Development Institute

EI & Leadership
Assignment: Innovative Leadership
Submitted to: Prof. Radha Sharma

Submitted by:
Akshay Minhas
Alok Kumar Shukla
Arun Yadav
Mohit

25 NMP 02
25 NMP 04
25 NMP 10
25 NMP 24

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Innovation keeps business competitive It is widely recognized as

providing real impetus for growth and is at the heart of corporate strategy in
many of the worlds leading firms.
CBI

Content:
Introduction.04
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Definition of Innovation.04
Drivers of Innovation..05
Innovation & Innovative Leadership: A General Overview....05
Innovative leadership Competencies: A General Overview.15
Competencies: Methods of Identification.16
Some Examples of innovative leaders & their qualities18
Innovative Leadership Style in Larsen & Toubro Ltd..20
Innovation Leadership Style in UnitedHealth Group (UHG)..24
Innovation Leadership Style in Aon Hewitt.26
Conclusion..26

Introduction:
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Innovation Leadership involves adopting certain styles of leadership in

organizations to influence employees to produce innovative ideas, products
and solutions.
As an approach to organization development, innovation leadership can be
used to support the achievement of the mission or vision of an organization
or group. In a world that is ever changing with new technologies and
processes, it is becoming necessary for organizations to think innovatively in
order to ensure their continued success and stay competitive. In order to
adapt to new changes, the need for innovation in organizations has resulted
in a new focus on the role of leaders in shaping the nature and success of
creative efforts. Without innovation leadership, organizations are likely to
struggle. This new call for innovation represents the shift from the 20th
century, traditional view of organizational practices, which discouraged
employee innovative behaviors, to the 21st century view of valuing
innovative thinking as a potentially powerful influence on organizational
performance

Definition of Innovation:
An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived to be new by
an individual or other unit of adoption such as teams, groups, or
departments (Rogers, 1995). To be an innovation, the ideas must add value
to the organization. They may lead to new or improved products, services,
systems, or work procedures. The ability to be innovative is critical in every
industry in order to adapt to changing technologies and working conditions,
to come up with new products, to take on new skills and jobs, and to stay
competitive (Bingham, 2003; Pagano, 1997). Innovation is subject to
influences from the individual, the organization, and the environment
(Slappender, 1996). Research has focused on the improvement of structure,
structural relationships, networking, and categorization of types of
organizations.
Leaders are the engines for envisioning and creating innovative products and
services in organizations (Reeves-Ellington, 1998). However, some leaders
still lack the ability to plan, measure, and implement innovative products and
services. Innovation leaders are Rogers (1995) innovators, early adopters,
opinion leaders, and change agents. As this perspective was the least
developed of the three suggested by Slappender (1996), it was necessary to
define categories of focus through an extensive literature review and
environmental scanning.

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Drivers of Innovation:

Improvements in customer experience

Demands of customers
Cost reduction
Organizational culture
Need to change or reduce raw materials
Regulatory requirement
Competitive positioning
Minimization of environmental impact
Gap in the market
Improving quality
Reduction of energy expenditure
Differentiation
Flexibility

Innovation & Innovative Leadership: A General Overview

The analysis of innovation in organizations begins with a discussion of the
work of Rogers (1995). Rogers suggests that diffusion is the process by
which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time
among the members of a social system.
Innovations develop as an organization:
(a) Recognizes a problem or need
(b) Researches the dimensions of the problem or need
(c) Commercialize it for a certain population
(d) Develops or purchases an innovation,
(e) Adopts and diffuses it within the organization
(f) Realizes the consequences of the innovation.
The individual innovation decision-making process that occurs begins with an
awareness of or a need for an innovation. The decision maker perceives the
characteristics of the innovation and forms a favorable or unfavorable
opinion about the innovation. Then they need innovation leadership to make
a decision to adopt the innovation and the innovation is implemented. The
innovation is confirmed when the individual understands the impact of the
innovation on the organization and is satisfied with its effectiveness.
The critical individuals involved with the innovation leadership are

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(a) Innovators: Innovators are venturesome and are almost obsessed with
new ideas that arise within private social circles.
(b) Early adopters: Early adopters are more integrated within a social
network. Potential adopters look toward these individuals for opinion
leadership.
(c) Change agents: Change agents are individuals who influence client
innovation decisions in a direction desired by
the change agency.
(d) Opinion leaders: Opinion leaders are those individuals who have many
links within their social network and are able to help others to make
innovation adoption decisions.
Kuczmarski (1996) suggests that innovation is the single most important
factor in developing strategy and practice in business and industry. It is a
mindset, a pervasive attitude, or a way of thinking focused beyond the
present into a future vision. The aspect of innovation that is most difficult for
professionals to grasp is that it is seen as inseparable from risk. Business
success is linked to organizations that can overcome the potential risk and
become true innovators. These organizations have a corporate culture that
nurtures individuals who take risks and think creatively. This leads to growth
through new products, services, and strategies. Revolutions of innovations
are linked directly to innovation because innovation provides the impetus for
organizations to increase productivity internally.
High internal productivity leads to
(a) Innovation products
(b) Services
(c) Processes that increase the aggregate innovation of an industry. As
consumers accept aggregate innovations in the market, organizations are
driven to create new innovations.
As an example of this economic process, organizations with certain
innovation challenges and characteristics tend to become the organizations
that are better able to implement technological innovations.
As business units increase the level of technological innovations that are
adopted in an organization, the level of employee competence within these
innovations is reduced. This has an impact on (a) work roles, (b) social
networking, and (c) organizational structure. Power relations are affected
such that those who are early adopters of innovations tend to increase their
power base. Workplace learning and performance professionals can address
these gaps by focusing on the improvement of individual employees.
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Ripley (1992) suggests that the competitive strength of a business depends

on its ability to innovate internally to close the gaps between employee
behaviors and technology. Along with addressing (a) structural, (b)
environmental, and (c) cultural issues, senior management should focus on
making employees (a) deliver quality, (b) customize their work processes,
and (c) specialize in work behaviors. This will allow the organization to (a)
maintain a high variety in its skills and increase its internal innovativeness,
and (b) as suggested by Hirshleifer (1994) increase its economic innovation
impact on the market.
There are many different ways to frame organizations in order to more
specifically understand how gaps arise in innovation competencies. Coglan
(2000) presents four of these frames, including:
(a) Structural
(b) Human resource
(c) Political
(d) Symbolic.
The structural frame analyzes the configurations and forms of organizations.
The human resource frame analyzes (a) people, (b) interpersonal dynamics,
(c) conflict, and (d) leadership. The political frame analyzes (a) strategies,
(b) power, and (c) networking. The symbolic frame analyzes (a) stories, (b)
myths, (c) rituals, and (d) drama in organizations. Meyer (1988) studied the
adoption of 300 innovations and determined that adoption success depended
on three classes of antecedents. Contextual attributes arise from the
characteristics of the organization and can be understood in terms of
Coglans four frames. Innovation attributes are the characteristics of the
implementation of the innovation, such as adoption method or technological
capability. The interaction of context and innovation and of those employees
involved in the adoption of the innovation comprises the third antecedent of
innovation adoption success. The interaction of context and innovation can
be more clearly understood in terms of organizational complexity and
adoption contingencies. Fairiborz (1996) suggests that the two indicators of
organizational complexity are structural complexity and organizational size.
The contingencies in innovation adoption include: (a) environmental
uncertainty, (b) sector, (c) type of innovation, and (d) adoption method.
Fairiborz (1996) found that the difference in these contingencies can be
better understood by framing the organization. As supported by this line of
research suggests that there are three perspectives on how to understand
innovation in organizations. The structuralist perspective suggests that
innovation is determined by structural characteristics and antecedents. This
perspective conceptualizes innovation as static and objectively defined
objects or processes. It suggests that innovation is a simple linear process
and focuses on adoptions of innovations.
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Cross-sectional surveys are used to explore structural characteristics such

as:
(a) Environment
(b) Size
(c) Complexity
(d) Differentiation
(e) Formalization
(f) Centralization
(g) Strategic type.
The innovation process perspective suggests that innovation is produced by
the interaction of structural influences and the actions of individuals.
Innovations are conceptualized as subjects that are reinvented and
reconfigured as they are perceived. They are a complex process that is
characterized by (a) shocks, (b) proliferation, (c) innovation capability, and
(d) context.
Managers begin by aligning innovation ambitions with the needs of the
business. They must have an awareness of the external business
environment. The information gathered from environmental scanning should
then be presented to the organization through open communication
channels. The manager must be aware of and tailor the skills and capabilities
of their employees to meet the needs of the business environment. Brown
(2001) suggests that established business processes, those of hierarchy,
command, and control, should be used to create an environment that has
rigor without rigidity. In practice, organizations should balance implicit
coordination and exploration without a loss in creativity.
The best innovative ideas can come from any employee at anytime.
Managers should encourage employee suggestions that improve their job
tasks. This removes barriers that can hamper employees contributions to
innovations. The barriers that managers face include: (a) stealing ideas for
reward, (b) evaluating ideas for acceptance, (c) finding an
audience for the idea, and (d) implementing the ideas with the desired
audience. Managers should support the innovation throughout its
implementation process.
Managers who have higher levels of motivation and commitment supported
innovations. Managerial support likewise
depended on:
(a) The individuals perception of the organizational goals and mission
(b) Personal agenda
(c) Skills
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(d) Expertise with the innovation.

Those managers who show strong support for the innovation are able to
create long-lasting, emergent relationships. Relationships created through
innovations occur in order to see things from a new perspective or to
improve what already exists. Innovation revolves around the concepts of
creativity and change. In an attitude and activity survey of innovation
relationships, Lee (1995) found that management staff aged 21-30 scored
higher on creativity measures than those in other age groups. Likewise,
those who (a) shared innovation ideas, (b) had higher levels of trust, and (c)
used intuition in their work were found to be more creative.
In order to mainstream creativity and innovation in organizations, managers
need to develop additional skills and competencies. These skills include:
(a) teamwork, (b) communications, (c) coaching, (d) project management,
(e) learning, (f) visioning, (g) change management, and (h) leadership.
These skills illuminate the connection between the competencies needed to
manage and those involved in leading innovation. Managers must use a
combined approach that facilitates innovation from the interactive process
and structural perspective. As managers of innovation become leaders of
innovation, they add the competencies needed to facilitate the individual.
Results suggested that in order to lead others in an innovation, leaders
should be trained to promote
(a) Imagination
(b) Community
(c) The application of the innovation in the workplace.
This is consistent that managers motivate by (a) promoting creativity and
commitment to innovation relationships, and
(b) Focusing on innovations in job tasks. Tailoring these leadership programs
to different types of leaders should provide additional effectiveness in
facilitating innovations.
The transformational leaders are effective at fostering and implementing
innovations. Due to increased levels of emotional intelligence, transformation
leaders were able to increase their employees
(a) Effort,
(b) Effectiveness
(c) Satisfaction.

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Employees with transformational leaders are more motivated to create and

diffuse innovations. Transformational leaders inspire and motivate employees
to facilitate an innovation.
There are two characteristics to inspirational motivation.
1 Image-based motivation provides employees with a
concrete vision of the innovation.
2 Concept-based motivation provides an abstract vision of an
innovation. Transformational leaders who use both imagebased and concept-based inspirational motivation have
employees who increase their efforts and focus on
creativity and learning
Butler (1999) found that trust moderates the transformational leaders
ability to facilitate innovation. The transformational leader increased
employee trust by improving specific leader behaviors. Leaders who
(a) Articulated a vision
(b) Provided a model
(c) Have high performance expectations
(d) Provided individual support
(e) Stimulated employees intellectually increased their level of trust.
Employees who had higher levels of trust in their leader were more
committed to diffusing innovations.
Employees commitment to their leader as a change agent explores.
Leaders
(a) showed sensitivity to employee needs,
(b) Provided a clear vision, and
(c) Provided clear goals.
Employees expressed an increased level of skills transfer as a result of their
leaders supportive behaviors.
Leaders can use themselves as an instrument to diagnose the needs of their
employees. Leaders should evaluate their behaviors and understand how
they affect employee motivation. The creative and integrative processes of
their department can be determined by (a) emotional reactions, (b) initial
perceptions, (c) bias, (d) judgment, and (e) focus on learning. As leaders
facilitate innovations, they are responsible for instilling creativity to drive
innovations.
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The leaders cognitive style and ability to motivate are linked to employee
creativity. In a study of 191 R&D employees, a cognitive style of divergent
thinking was found to be necessary to produce creativity. In this, an
innovator will seek to
(a)
(b)
(c)

Integrate diverse information

Redefine problems
Generate ideas that deviate from the norm. These ideas can then
be used to fuel organizational innovations.

Creativity can be understood as an act through which new insight may be

gained about the solution to an intellectual challenge It is an intrinsic skill
that leads to innovations in organizations. Creative people typically have (a)
a diversity of interests, (b) skills in many areas, (c) a high level of
enthusiasm, (d) short interest span, (e) disregard for authority, and (e) need
for recognition. They work with others on common goals to achieve solutions
for the good of the organization but crave individuality. Creativity has a
psychological basis. It can be understood in terms of personality traits and
their corresponding behaviors .Organizations can also understand creativity
in terms of a continuum of paradigms. Creative individuals seek to (a)
maintain paradigms, (b) shift paradigms, or (c) break paradigms. Changes in
paradigms occur as leaders (a) express the need for change, (b) associate
with others to implement the change, and (c) stimulate the organization to
accept the change. McFadzean (1999) suggests that to foster creativity,
leaders should provide (a) a vision, (b) participative safety for employees,
(c) a climate for excellence, and (d) support for innovations.
Organizations may establish healthy, creative environments for innovation
but still have skills gaps in creativity. In order to fill these gaps, leaders need
to understand what creative employees value and the competencies that
make them innovative. Organizations should then align their competency
needs accordingly in order to foster innovation. Innovative employees value
meaningful work. Lack of meaning in work leads to stagnant levels of
innovation. Specifically, organizations should focus on the meaningfulness of
an individuals objectives and goals. If an organization can balance its goals
with the goals of its people, greater success with innovations can be
achieved. Likewise, innovative employees should also be intellectually
engaged. The intellectual attention to external changes in the industry
helped increase the organizations level of innovation. As employees learned
about their external environment, they were better able to understand and
adapt to changes. Creative thinking led to innovations that helped the
organization learn and adapt accordingly.
Innovation has been linked to many additional learning processes.
Autonomous individual learning helps to increase the knowledge base of the
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organization as a whole. Knowledge management tools help to capture and

diffuse core process knowledge. Experimentation helps to encourage
informal problem-solving. Self-reflective job audits have helped employees
adapt to constant change in organizations.
Learning enhances the effectiveness of managers and leaders of innovation.
The commitment to learning begins with a knowledge-responsive
environment. Innovators should encourage high levels of knowledge transfer
among those involved in the innovation process. Finally, managers and
leaders should encourage a differentiation of perspectives rather than relying
solely on workplace experience.
Knowledge management during the innovation process resided at the
individual level. In many cases, organizational culture creates barriers to
individual learning. This results in poor feedback and decreased levels of
innovation. As a result, an organization should create a culture that is
conducive to individual learning. An organization can focus its learning
culture on a particular method of inquiry. Organizations with a problemsolving focus innovate by using their learning resources to overcome
challenges. These challenges typically arise out of managing change. In
contrast, appreciative learning cultures nurture innovation individual actions
by (a) fostering an affirmative focus, (b) developing proactive employee
competencies, (c) generating systems of meaning, and (d) fostering a
collaborative spirit of inquiry among employees.
The capacity to learn must exceed the rate of change in an organization in
order for it to remain innovative. An organization maintains its
innovativeness by defining individual learning requirements. This is done by
assessing individual learning competencies. These needs should then be
prioritized. Learning support should be made available to align goals with
leadership competencies. Roles will then be more closely aligned with the
innovation process. The need for change can create role conflicts between
the individuals competencies and the expectations of their role. If role
performance declines, it affects the organizations ability to innovate.
Constant learning is therefore critical to maintaining an individuals
competencies. If the individual maintains or exceeds their role competence,
they can fully participate with teams in the creation or implementation of
innovations.
Team development is correlated with individual learning structures. Variables
explored included:
(a) Information acquisition
(b) Information implementation
(c) Information dissemination
(d) Unlearning
(e) Thinking
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(f) Improvisation
(g) Memory
(h) Intelligence
(i) sense-making.
A collaborative style of leadership is linked to learning in organizations.
Collaborative leaders encourage learning by promoting
(a) Optimism
(b) Creativity
(c)
Collaboration.
They
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

increase levels of innovation by

Gaining commitment,
Understanding how to lead change
Identifying resistors
Instilling motivation.

Effectively managing and leading creative and learning processes can lead to
increased levels of innovation. The most critical part of these processes is
the leadership of innovations through the organizations social system.
They are subject to constant social evolution and change. Change interacts
with individuals and individuals interact with change. Innovations occur due
to social interactions and technological revolutions. The individual is a
participant in a socio-technical system. They have the knowledge, skills, and
will to contribute to the system. They prepare, regulate, and execute tasks.
But they also have a need for learning and control over their social
environment. This, in turn, affects the needs of the entire system. When new
or unmet needs arise, the organization must innovate in order to meet the
social needs of individuals. Individuals who lead innovations within social
systems construct an identity. An identity has both changing and enduring
qualities. Identities can be created spontaneously or can emerge over time.
Individuals can have multiple identities for different social situations.
Identities mold organizational dynamics and help to shape organizational
politics.
Individuals who lead innovations in organizations can overcome the
ambiguity created by the diffusion of an innovation by using informal group
dynamics (Butler, 2000). Individuals need to understand the patterns of
communication in an organization. Patterns of communication arise through
formal and informal channels. The individual can use informal channels to
gain a high level of trust. Once they are trusted, the learning process that
occurs during an innovation can be deployed through formal communication
channels. Individuals who lead innovators must also understand the politics
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of the organization. Power is a perceived property of an individual or

relationship within a social structure. Individuals can use
(a) Conversations
(b) Controls
(c) Tactics
(d) Impression management to influence others.
They should express (a) formed and tacit knowledge, (b) accountability, (c)
outcome responsibility, and (d) reputation in order to achieve greater levels
of perceived power.
Chiesa (2000) studied the relationship among choice, partnering, and
innovation in a series of case studies. It was found that the choice to
innovate was dependent on four factors, including: (a) form of collaboration,
(b) type of relations with parties involved in the innovation, (c) negotiation
processes, and (d) the initial priorities set by parties involved. Partnering in
the process of innovation can provide quick, affordable access to new
capabilities. Partners should seek to achieve respective goals by creating a
mutual understanding of the social structure and talent needs of new
venture innovations. New venture innovations, those that create new social
entities between or within different social structures, require the individual to
take on the role of entrepreneur. They are charged with evaluating and
possibly improving the value that the innovation will add to the organization.
Those employees who are part of the social structure of the new venture
must adapt to new social conditions. Entrepreneurs of social innovation are
needed for three types of situations: (a) changes imposed by business
development, (b) changes of necessity, and (c) radical changes of business
practices.
One way social innovators change organizations is through organizational
affection.
To increase levels of organizational affection, social innovators need
to engage with others to create relationships. Relationships should include
(a) Trust
(b) Loyalty,
(C) Individual commitment.
Essentially, these characteristics lead to relationships that create learning
pathways for innovation diffusion.
There are relational behaviors in organizations across seven factors.
These factors are consistent with the findings of this literature review in that
they may also suggest some of the characteristics of individuals who lead or
manage innovations. Contribution requires the individual to be a full
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participant in the organizations social structure. Motivation requires the

individual to provide challenging and meaningful work. Decisioning requires
the individual to be an active part of the decision-making process.
Relationship requires the individual to make energized working social
connections. Leadership requires the individual to be worthy of trust.
Accountability requires the individual to take individual and collective
responsibility. Advocacy requires the individual to provide positive
reinforcement and promote other group members.

Innovative leadership Competencies: A General Overview

The study and analysis being done by scholars (References ) on
innovation, facilitates our group to analyze further study for
innovative leadership. Following are the analysis and discussion
which we did in our group
A competency is an area of knowledge or skill that is critical for producing
key outputs. They are internal capabilities that people bring to their jobs
capabilities that may be expressed in a broad and even infinite array of onthe-job behaviors. Competencies are the foundation of the modern
organizations human resource management function and are typically
expressed as a competency model.
A competency model is a description of the (a) knowledge, (b) skills, (c)
capabilities, and (d) behaviors required to perform a job or function, or to
sustain the desired organizational culture. Emphasis is placed on the things
that excellent performers do more often, persistently, and effectively than do
average performers. An organization may use a competency-based system
as a business strategy to determine how competency models are functionally
and multi-dimensionally used for (a) hiring and selection, (b) assessment,
(c) performance management, (d) training and development, and (e) career
development
Likewise, competency-based initiatives are purposeful actions undertaken by
institutions directed at (a) defining, (b) teaching, and (c) assessing
competencies across their system.
McClelland discovered competence as an alternative to intelligence testing.
In the late 1970s, along with the McBer Company, McClelland completed the
first competency study to identify high performers.
Behavioral Event Interviewing was discussed as an early method for
competency identification. The concept of an organizational competency, one
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that identifies the behavior of an organization rather than an individual, was

identified in Prahalad and Hamel (1990).
Six main types of competencies:
(a) Task competencies
(b) Result competencies
(c) Output competencies
(d) Knowledge
(e) Skills
(f) Attitude competencies and super-performer differentiators.

Competencies: Methods of Identification:

There are mainly three approaches to competency modeling:
(a)
(b)
(c)

The borrowed approach

The tailored approach
The borrowed and tailored approach.

The approaches categorize the 12 major research tools that can be used to
identify the competencies of a particular population. Within these
approaches are six sub approaches
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)

Behavioral event interviews

Expert panels
Surveys
Computer-based expert systems
Job analysis
Direct observations.
Generic models or lists
Adopting or tailor expert panel recommendations
Competency inventory
Focus group
Card sort
Guessing.

The borrowed approach allows the organization to take a pre-existing

competency model and use it on those occasions when a competency model
is needed. The positions in question are typically similar in function.
Competency models can be borrowed from any source; however, the validity
of the model depends on its original application.

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The borrowed approach (a) is very easy to implement, (b) is inexpensive, (c)
has rapid results, and (d) has a high degree of credibility. Unfortunately, the
borrowed approach does not take into account (a) the models suitability to
the new position, (b) copyright issues, (c) a low level of legal defensibility,
and (d) a low rigor approach to competency modeling.
The tailored approach is the most rigorous approach to competency
modeling. A model is developed from scratch and then tailored to the
specific needs of a specific organizational population divides the tailored
approach into the following methods: (a) process-driven method, (b)
outputs-driven method, (c) invented method, (d) trendsdriven method and
(e) work responsibilities-driven method.
The process-driven method attempts to discover competencies by analyzing
the traits of high performers; it is the oldest method of competency
development. The outputs-driven method involves tools such as job analysis,
focus groups, and expert panels, and is categorized by taking into account
future duties and responsibilities of high performers.
The invented method attempts to invent the competencies depending on key
stakeholder input.
Like the outputs-driven method, the trends driven method focuses on the
trends that will impact the incumbent in the future. The work responsibilities
method identifies the competencies in terms of the incumbents
responsibilities in the organization.
The borrowed and tailored approach takes into account aspects of both of its
Constituent approaches. Organizations borrow the competency model from a
source and then use one of these methods to tailor it to its organization. One
of the most popular forms of the borrowed and tailor approach is the
occupation-based method.
The occupation-based method is used to identify competencies tailored to a
specific occupation, typically by professional associations. The advantages of
this method are that (a) competencies are defined in the jargon of the
occupation, (b) it describes the entire occupation, not just specialty
positions, (c) experts identify the competencies, (d) the results are legally
defensible and can be used to develop a customized listing of competencies.
However, this approach may overlook the contributions of the organizations
culture and the incumbents personal characteristics. The borrowed and
tailored approach could easily be used at the conclusion of this study by
workplace learning and performance professionals to tailor the resultant
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model into a customized competency model of innovation leaders for an

organization.

Some Examples of innovative leaders & their qualities:

Steve Jobs has become a symbol of innovative leadership. Sad to say, there
aren't many leaders like him. But we have some more leaders who
developed and practices the innovative leadership - Google's Larry Page,
Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Genentech's Arthur
Levinson, and Starbucks' Howard Schultz -- are entrepreneurs who founded
and built their businesses.

Qualities of these Innovative Leaders

The characteristics of these great innovative leaders are dramatically
different from traditional business managers. Here are five essential qualities
they must have to lead innovation:
Passion for innovation: Innovative leaders not only have to appreciate the
benefits of innovation, they need a deep passion for innovations that benefit
customers. Just approving funds for innovation is insufficient. Leaders must
make innovation an essential part of the company's culture and growth
strategy.
A long-term perspective: Most investors think three years is "long-term,"
but that won't yield genuine innovation. Major innovations can change entire
markets as the iPod and iTunes did, but they take time to perfect products
and gain adoption by mainstream users. Leaders cannot stop and start
innovation projects as if they were marketing expenses; they must support
innovation regardless of the company's near-term prospects.
The courage to fail and learn from failure: The risks of innovation are
well known, but many leaders aren't willing to be associated with its failures.
However, there is a great deal to be learned from why an innovation has
failed, as this enhanced understanding can lead to the greatest
breakthroughs. At Medtronic, our failures with implantable defibrillators in
the 1980s led to far more sophisticated approaches to treating heart disease
in the 1990s.
Deep engagement with the innovators: Innovative leaders must be
highly engaged with their innovation teams: asking questions, probing for
potential problems, and looking for ways to accelerate projects and broaden

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their impact. That's what HP's founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard did
by wandering around HP's labs and challenging innovators.
Willingness to tolerate mavericks and defend them from middle
management: The best innovators are rule-breakers and mavericks who
don't fit the corporate mold and are threatening to middle managers
following more typical management approaches. That's why innovative
leaders must protect their maverick's projects, budgets, and careers rather
than forcing them into traditional management positions.

Innovative Leadership Style in Larsen & Toubro Ltd.:

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One of our group members Mr. Alok Shukla has worked with L&T so we get
following information about the innovative leadership in L&T.
Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) is a technology, engineering, construction and
manufacturing company. It is one of the largest and most respected
companies in India's private sector.
More than seven decades of a strong, customer-focused approach and the
continuous quest for world-class quality have enabled it to attain and sustain
leadership in all its major lines of business.
L&T has an international presence, with a global spread of offices. A thrust
on international business has seen overseas earnings grow significantly. It
continues to grow its global footprint, with offices and manufacturing
facilities in multiple countries.
The company's businesses are supported by a wide marketing and
distribution network, and have established a reputation for strong customer
support.
L&T believes that progress must be achieved in harmony with the
environment. A commitment to community welfare and environmental
protection are an integral part of the corporate vision.

Vision:
L&T Shall be

a professional managed Indian Multinational, committed to

total customer satisfaction and enhancing shareholder value. L&T-ites shall
be an innovative, entrepreneurial and empowered team constantly creating
value and attaining global benchmarks. L&T Shall foster a culture of caring,
trust and continuous learning while meeting expectations of employees,
stakeholders and society.
We at L&T divide innovative leadership in mainly two parts:

Innovative leadership for process

Innovative leadership for people

Innovative leadership for process

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In L&T innovation for process is driven by its people at all levels, but most of
the time ideas come from bottom to top.
Top Management

Sr. Executive

R&D Team

Manager

Supervisor

Workmen/Junior Staf

Since the end user is more knowledgeable about the processes of machines
or systems, so he can have better idea for improvement. Management has
developed a culture where an employee can come out with any type of
suggestions; it is the responsibility of his supervisor to bring the issue to the
top management for the analysis and adoption of the suggestion. Some
minor innovation can be adopted at junior level as well; there is no need of
any approval from the top management.
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By adopting this innovative culture L&T saves many crore of rupees and also
reduces the processing time. This culture also develops the empowerment
and entrepreneurial skills among the employees.

Innovative leadership for people

In L&T innovation for people is mainly driven by its people at all levels, but
most of the time ideas come from top to bottom.
Top Management

Sr. Executive

Manager

Supervisor

Workmen/Junior Staf

In L&T all the development processes and trainings are designed at top level.
However the top management takes the feedbacks and requirements of
trainings from each individual and his supervisor for making all the
development process more effective. Most of the time senior managers
conduct interviews with managers directly connected with the people at

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bottom level of hierarchy, and then they designed the program for fulfilling
the needs at bottom levels.
By adopting this innovative culture L&T developed so many people inside the
organization who come out with many innovative ideas for the betterment of
the organization. This culture also develops the empowerment and
entrepreneurial skills among the employees.

Innovation Leadership Style in UnitedHealth Group (UHG).

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Another group member Mr. Akshay Minhas has worked with UnitedHealth
Group so we get following information about the innovative leadership in
UnitedHealth Group.
UHG is a is diversified managed health care company with headquarter in
Minnesota, USA. It was founded in 1977. It is No.22 in fortune magazines
top 500 companies in US.
It has wide spectrum of products and services. It has family of subsidiaries
and divisions.
One of the divisions UHGIS is in India operating at three locations i.e
Gurgaon, Noida, Hydrabad.
In India it started it started its operations in 2006. Basically its core
operations are in US and for rest of the operations it has setup captive unit
in India to save cost and have economic advantage.
UHG has an international presence, with a global spread of offices. A thrust
on international business has seen overseas earnings grow significantly. It
continues to grow its global footprint, with offices in multiple countries.
Vision: UHG ensure that the people we serve not only receive access to
quality health care, but also have the information, guidance and tools they
need to make informed decisions about their health and well-being. L&T-ites
shall be an innovative, entrepreneurial and empowered team constantly
creating value and attaining global benchmarks.
We at UHG divide innovative leadership in mainly two parts

Innovative leadership for process

Innovative leadership for people

Innovative leadership for process

In UHG innovation for process is driven by its people at all levels. People are
motivated and given incentives to give bright ideas which can contribute to
improve the processes. Leaders/ managers motivate subordinates to come
up with innovative ideas.
By adopting this innovative culture UHG was able to reduce millions of
dollars and made process more efficient and effective.
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Innovative leadership for people

In UHG all the development processes and trainings are designed at top
level. However the top management takes the feedbacks and requirements
of trainings from each individual and his supervisor for making all the
development process more effective. Many times senior managers take
feedback from subordinates about areas where they want gain expertise and
what are would be their training requirements.

Innovation Leadership Style in Aon Hewitt:

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Another group member Mr. Arun Yadav has worked with Aon Hewitt so we
get following information about the innovative leadership in Aon Hewitt.
Aon Hewitt India started a drive to promote innovation and idea generation
to refine the existing process prevailing in the company. The rational behind
that was that leadership knew importance of ideas and recommendation
from line people can work wonders for client satisfaction thus wanted to
imbibe innovation into the culture of Aon hewitt more strongly. This would
provide a strong foundation to articulate Aons unique value to colleagues.
For the idea to implement Change agent were recognized whose job was to
evaluate any suggestion , valuate it, see want benefits it provide to
organization both monetary as well as functional and recognize and
encourage those candidate through recognition and monetary awards. Also
significant promotion of this event was done through Banners and chain
mails to encourage more participation and manager were also recognized
whose team came up with most ideas.
To promote the event further monthly meeting was conducted where best
five ideas were shared with public at large and idea generation was included
as a parameter for evaluating employee annual performance.

Conclusion
Innovative leadership is practiced by those who are either able to better
understand customer requirements and exploit new market opportunities, or
access new technologies to deliver successful new products and services.
They are seen as the corporate heroes of today. Innovation Leaders are
delivering innovation and gaining direct impact to the top and bottom line.
To practice innovative leadership a leader must have all the understanding
about the importance of innovation and its benefits to get competitiveness
over the competitors.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation_leadership

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Research papers and journals from the following site

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/

Diffusion of Innovations, by Everett Rogers (1995)

http://www.stanford.edu/class/symbsys205/Diffusion%20of%20Innovations.htm
The New Governance: Practices and Processes for Stakeholder and Citizen Participation in
the Work of Government (Bingham 2003)
http://glennschool.osu.edu/faculty/brown/home/810/Class%20Materials/Bingham.pdf
Discussion Paper on Credit Information Sharing (Pagano 1997)
http://www.oecd.org/daf/psd/45370071.pdf
Leadership for socially responsible organizations - Emerald (Reeves Ellington 1998)
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1410493&show=pdf
Slappendel, C. (1996). Perspectives on innovation in organizations. Organization Studies
http://oss.sagepub.com/content/17/1/107.short
Kuczmarski, T. D. (1996). What is innovation? The art of welcoming risk. The Journal of
Consumer Marketing
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=856235&show=abstract
Ripley, R. E., & Ripley, M. J. (1992). The innovation organization and behavioral
technology for the 1990's.
Meyer, A. D., & Goes, J. B. (1988). Organizational assimilation of innovations: A
multilevel company. Academy of Management Journal, 31(4), 897-924.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (2001). Creativity versus structure: A useful tension. MIT Sloan
Management Review, 42(4), 93-95.
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN BUSINESS STRATEGY AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/article/10658455/bridging-the-gap-betweentechnology-firm-strategy
McFadzean, E. (1999). Encouraging creative thinking. Leadership & Organization
Development
Chiesa, V., Manzini, R., & Tecilla, F. (2000). Selecting sourcing strategies for
technological innovation: an empirical case study
The core competence of cooperation by Prahalad and Hamel
http://www.jeremym.fr/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/C.K.Prahalad_G.Hamel_CoreCompetenceOfTheCorp.pdf

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