Building an Innovative Work Culture

Innovation is one of the most critical capabilities that the most successful organizations have since it is responsible for the development of new products and services, winning marketing communications programs and successful business strategies. Bottom of FormCompanies who wish to create innovative work must support and embrace an environment that is conducive to innovation. The following are some of the best practices which embrace an innovative work culture that has been put forward by most authors ( Pizzigati S. 2004).

1. Promotion of the Individual Growth
   The employee’s willingness to invest creativity at work is produced from the employer’s desire to invest in the employee’s growth. When the employees believe that their own growth is valued by the employer, they make more innovative contributions. The relevant training should be compulsory and to ensure that all the employees are given the opportunity to benefit from it. This instills a culture that supports the release of individuals from the demanding roles to ensure their development. Good training leads to a better understanding of the opportunities which are relevant for career development and provides the employer with increased innovation  (Rea J and Kerzner H.1997).
2. Optimizing the Work Environment
   The flexible and well-equipped work environments are most conducive to innovation. The functional teams should have the ability to immediately reserve sufficient spaces where adequate seating, boards, and projection equipment are available. The essential office comforts such as water and coffee should also be available to make the employees feel comfortable. The employees should have the freedom and authority to hold meetings to identify efficiency and workplace improvements.
3. Build Confidence
   Confidence is derived from encouragement and freedom from the fear of making a mistake. The confident employees are always aware of their abilities and they are more likely to experiment with innovative solutions. Encouragement instills confidence in individuals, especially the employees. Confidence can be hampered when individuals or employees are criticized. The employees should be encouraged to solidify ideas through further experimentation.
4. Creating a Sense of Belonging
   A sense of belonging comes from being valued and appreciated by both workmates and management for one’s contributions. A variety of reward mechanisms are effective in acknowledging employee contributions and showing appreciation. Ownership provides a sense of purpose in the organization and often provides opportunities for innovative contributions. When the individuals feel that their ideas are recognized and that they share a part of the company’s success, and inclusive environment has been created (Rea J and Kerzner H.1997).

I agree with the above because innovation has attracted more attention as one of the processes that all organizations must possess in order to retain and increase their viability. Innovation in an organization creates change in the environment that other organizations must follow in order to have a sustainable competitive advantage. Innovation takes a certain frame of mind that tolerates and sometimes thrives on positive change.

The importance of ethics in leading innovation using current events in business ethics magazine. Many of the ethics and compliance leaders seek a workforce where everyone is able to demonstrate very high levels of personal accountability. The employees at all levels feel a certain sense of commitment to the organization. If they realize something that doesn’t work rightly, they will take action, not because they are told to, but because they need to safeguard the organization that is under their care.

Innovation and productivity are only brought about when creative people feel safe in an ethical work environment where their ideas are listened to and also respected. Whether to encourage new designs of products or processes to make workflow more efficient, the creative people need to feel that their contributions are worthy, and they undergo suffering because they are trying to make all things better.

It is evident that accountability, respect, and open communication drives performance and leads to trust and creativity. They also help in maintaining higher standards of integrity. In the assessment of the success of the company’s programs, the owners of the ethics responsibilities should consider the levels of the engagement of employees and their innovations.

SWOT analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats and its analysis is a useful tool for decision-making for all situations in business and organizations. The following SWOT analysis shows General Electric’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats which gives a clear picture of the business environment that General Electric is operating in at the present time (Berkowitz N.1989).

Strengths

These are positive elements, something they do well and is under their control, and the main strengths of General Electric include.

1. Forming alliances with other popular businesses is a major point for General Electric as it helps in bringing new customers and making the business more effective.
2. Being a market leader, General Electric is key to its success as it boosts reputation, profit, and market share. 

1.  Being financially strong helps General Electric deal with any problems, make many profits and out perform their rivals.  General Electric has a high percentage of the market share which implies that it is ahead of many competitors.
2. General Electric’s position in the market is high and strong – a major strength in this industry as they are ahead of many rivals.

Weaknesses

These are aspects that need to be improved by GE because they put it behind the competitors.

These weaknesses of General Electric include

1. Problems with the stock are a major weakness for General Electric as they need to keep up with demand.
2. The GE performance in the Asian market is not up to the required level

Opportunities

These are external changes needs and trends that could enhance GE’s strategic position and they include the following

1.  General Electric could receive benefits from the Governmental in the form of grants, allowances, and training.
2. The changes in technology could give General Electric an opportunity to enhance future success.
3.  The merger opportunities could be explored for General Electric and used to acquire more new customers and new markets.

Threats

These are factors that restrict, damage, or subject the GE Company to risks. The company should be aware of the threats and prepare for them when considering important strategies. The main threats General Electric include

1. The regulations requiring money to be spent or measures to be taken could put financial pressure on General Electric.
2.  Extra competition and new competitors entering the market could threaten General Electric.
3. GE is one of the largest producers of pollution in the world and therefore the government regulation on environmental issues is a threat for GE. 

The challenges and solutions associated with managing multicultural organizations

Managing communication in multicultural or multilingual organizations is a more complex task, compared to companies of one nationality or speech community. Suspicion and conflict may arise due to communication difficulties in diverse organizations. The barriers to communication in multicultural groups sometimes lead to absenteeism,  reduced morale, discord, lack of market orientation, and customer focus. This implies that if the companies seeking competitive embrace diversity, they risk communication problems. To reach an understanding of the problem, a discussion about the implications of functionalist research on intercultural communication is necessary, because it claims that there is a relationship between communication style and cultural distance. Also, the focus of intercultural communication should direct more attention to the maintenance of social boundaries, instead of the objectified categories that are ascribed to a group, such as a nationality (Gail M. 1995).

The role of ethics and responsibilities in leading innovation and change

Specific behaviors that connect ethics and compliance with innovation and productivity are useful in the achievement of both cultural and business objectives, accountability, respect, open communication and it leads to trust within an organization.

Conclusion

Many companies in the world are not able to integrate ethical behavior with the core behaviors that drive business success.