Title: Gaining insight into innovation culture within the context of R&D centres in Turkey

Authors: Ethem Duygulu; Emir Ozeren; Demet Bagiran; Andrea Appolloni; Muge Mavisu

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, Dokuzçeşmeler Campus, 3516024 sok. no: 2 Buca, Izmir, Turkey ' Department of Business Government Philosophy Studies, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via Columbia 2, 00133 Rome, Italy ' School of Reha Midilli Foca Tourism and Hotel Management, Dokuz Eylul University, Atatürk Mahallesi 174 sok. no. 5, 35680 Foca, Izmir, Turkey ' Department of Business Government Philosophy Studies, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via Columbia, 2, 00133 Rome, Italy ' Department of Business Government Philosophy Studies, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Via Columbia 2, 00133 Rome, Italy

Abstract: The aim of this article is to identify the major themes of innovation culture within the context of R&D centres. The research question formulated for this purpose is: What are the aspects of corporate culture that can support building an innovation culture? To address this research question, qualitative exploratory research design was employed and focus group methodology was adopted. The research was conducted on 38 enterprises out of 127 with official R&D centre certification in Turkey. This paper contributes to the existing literature based on eight dimensions (knowledge sharing, learning and development, social networks and cooperation, allocation of free time, tolerance of mistakes, rewarding and incentive system, managing differences and teamwork) that captures the interface between corporate culture and innovativeness. A unique definition of innovation culture was also proposed.

Keywords: corporate culture; innovation management; innovativeness; innovation culture; R&D centres; focus groups; exploratory research design; Turkey; research and development; knowledge sharing; learning; development; social networks; cooperation; free time; tolerance of mistakes; rewards; incentives; managing differences; teamwork.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2015.068439

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2015 Vol.19 No.1/2, pp.117 - 146

Received: 09 Nov 2013
Accepted: 04 Jul 2014
Published online: 03 Apr 2015 *

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