Title: Connecting culture to creativity and innovation: how trust and other variations of corporate culture influence innovative behaviour

Authors: Rune Ellemose Gulev

Addresses: Kiel University of Applied Sciences, Sokratesplatz 2, 24149 Kiel, Germany

Abstract: This pilot study examines the cultural conditions that support sustainable creative and innovative behaviour, what we term intrapreneurship, within organisations. The results, limited to mature organisations that operate in developed markets, reveal that especially the benefits of high interpersonal trust levels, that is, the extent to which colleagues quickly trust one another, positively influence intrapreneurship levels for several reasons. Further, cultures that promote high work refuge and a feeling of self-direction and purpose also demonstrated a strong positive link to intrapreneurship. Holistically, when all three cultural aspects are present, very high intrapreneurship scores were observed. This suggests that the management is prepared to accept some 'randomness' costs reducing efficiency in the immediate short run, for the benefit of potential upcoming acts of intrapreneurship in the long run. The study also examines some conventional cultural dimensions often connected with intrapreneurship. In this vein, it was found that high individualism and high decentralisation were not strongly linked with intrapreneurship. This provides depth to the popular perception that these cultural dimensions are synonymous with fostering creativity and innovative behaviour.

Keywords: corporate culture; innovative behaviour; interpersonal trust; intrapreneurship; sustainability; creativity; innovation; organisational culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSE.2016.079428

International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 2016 Vol.8 No.4, pp.342 - 356

Received: 06 Nov 2015
Accepted: 23 Jan 2016
Published online: 28 Sep 2016 *

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