Cultivating Corporate Innovation

"Innovation," over the last years, has become one of the most used terms in corporate practice and management theory. Companies hardly have an alternative to constantly fostering innovation if they want to survive in the long run. In order to achieve constant willingness and capacity for innovations, taking along employees on this path, establishing transparency about the necessity of innovation, and creating the framework conditions for creative, motivated performance with the help of corporate culture are necessary preconditions. Granting entrepreneurial freedom within as decentral structures as possible, delegating responsibility in combination with profit sharing, and leading a partnership-based dialogue among all stakeholders transports identification with the company and the tasks. This again encourages the willingness to perform and change among employees as well as the competitiveness of the company. Three case studies of internationally successful corporations prove this context and give impulses to shape an innovation-friendly corporate culture.