Top management policies, marketing manufacturing involvement and innovation act: Case Analysis of UK

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank my supervisor for supporting me throughout my project and giving his valuable suggestions. Finally thanks to all my friends and family for their utmost support and inspiration.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names & surname here], declare that this thesis has been composed individually and is not published or submitted before. It further reflects my personal opinions and researches the topic and it does not present any opinions of the University.

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ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to analyze the top management policies and their involvement in the process of marketing-manufacturing innovation. Companies must be able to innovate at the global frontier. They must create and commercialize a stream of new products and processes that shift the technology frontier, progressing as fast as their rivals catch up. Many organizations have discovered the critical role that manufacturing plays in determining the competitive position of the firm. In sharp contrast with the traditional view of manufacturing as a tactical, reactive, cost-minimizing function, effective design and management of the production system is now considered a sustainable source of competitive advantage. The methodology applied to this research study is qualitative. Interviews were conducted with the managers of 10 firms of the United Kingdom. These managers were asked questions regarding how does the innovation process being impacted by the top management policies. Overall, there were 10 participants were interviewed. The results showed that the management policies are there to support the employees in the process of marketing-manufacturing innovation, but too much involvement of the mangers in the process decreases the efficiency of idea generation from the employees. If the management provides detailed guidelines to the employees, the employees would be unable to think out side the box and this would also limit the ability of the companies to innovate their marketing-manufacturing processes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study1

Research Questions5

Aims and Objectives5

Significance of the Study6

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW7

Definition of Innovation8

Theories and content of the Managers leadership10

Organizational justice theory12

Organizational culture theory14

The theory and content of employee innovative behavior16

Innovation performance monitoring18

Supervisor leadership has significant influences on employee innovative behavior19

Senior management and the Innovation process20

Aspects for Identification and definite of an organizational structure21

Manufacturing Focus22

Organizational Policies23

Team Policies24

Deciding to Adopt25

Patterns of Diffusion26

Leadership Roles26

Opinion Leaders27

Change Agents27

Innovation Entrepreneurs29

Problems in the Process of Innovation30

A higher degree of organizational justice has more influences on supervisor leadership and innovative behavior32

The bureaucratic culture and the innovation culture have interfering effects on transformation and employee innovative behavior33

The Influence of Senior Management on Marketing-Manufacturing Involvement34

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY36

Overview of Qualitative Approach36

Research Method and Design Appropriateness37

Secondary Approach37

Sample Selection38

Qualitative Analysis38

Informed Consent39

Confidentiality40

Validity40

Data Analysis41

Qualitative Data Analysis41

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS43

Discussion43

Interview Questionnaire Analysis44

Network Activities Are Linked With the Innovative Process44

Knowledge Management45

Acquire and Integrate the Knowledge Management46

Impact of Technological Innovation47

Role Senior Management49

Innovation Adoption in Organizations51

Influence of Environmental Determinants53

Summary55

CHAPTER 05: CONCLUSION57

Recommendations for future research58

REFERENCES60

APPENDIX69

Interview Questionnaire69

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Innovation is one of the most critical components in maintaining the competitive advantage of any organization. Earley and Gibson (1998) states, Companies must be able ...