Relationship Between Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation Within Organizations

The role of innovation and technology in supporting the growth of organizations cannot
be underestimated. Entrepreneurship, the art of creating or deriving value, enables the
commercialization of technology and innovation. Innovation enables business organizations to
develop new products or to enhance the value of the existing products. As a result, organizations
can effectively and efficiently satisfy the market needs and solve customer problems and, in
return, generate revenues and profits. Therefore, the interplay between entrepreneurship and
innovation is critical in supporting the growth of organizations.
Entrepreneurship and innovation can be viewed through the lenses of human resources.
The implementation of entrepreneurship and innovative ideas is accomplished by people who
continuously focus on developing cutting-edge innovations and scaling them to reach
commercialization and broad market adoption levels. Griffin et al. (2012) categorize such
entrepreneurs as “serial innovators.” Serial innovators create radical products through a process
that deviates fundamentally from the formal stages of new product development. In many
instances, the formal product development processes are a barrier to radical innovations, as noted
in Griffin et al. (2014). To overcome those barriers, Griffin et al. (2014) suggest that serial
innovators must be non-linear, focus more on making vague ideas practical, and openly
transition from vague ideas to a formal development process. Lastly, they must engage actively
in promoting market acceptance. Serial innovators become change agents when they can
overcome the challenges of developing radical innovations and turn them into breakthrough
products.

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The iPhone innovations stand out for me as the best examples of radical innovations that
completely changed the mobile and digital technologies market. Apple started by creating the
iPod in 2001. However, the company shifted to different concepts when developing the iPhone
rather than undertaking incremental improvements. In this case, the focus was to incorporate
computer capacity in the mobile device. As a result, the iPhone became a global phenomenon
that other brands have consistently tried to emulate since the mid-2000s. Such types of radical
innovation do not come as a result of luck. Organizations that succeed in developing
breakthrough innovations always embrace innovators and have clear and robust strategies that
pave the way to a culture that embraces uncertainty.
From a human resource perspective, I believe that the organizational culture plays a
pivotal role in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship. I believe an organization that
embraces innovativeness is a product of two things. The first is the people, which entails shared
values, attitudes, behaviors, leadership styles, and work practices. The second component is the
infrastructure encompassing the systems, processes, and policies. My philosophy of becoming a
change agent entails collaborating with people in continuously looking for solutions, and this is
only possible when the organizational culture is aligned to embracing change and
innovativeness, which is an idea that is reiterated by Graetz & Smith (2010). Human resource
management practices should be geared toward bringing together people capable of becoming
organizational change agents.

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References

Griffin, A., Price, R. L., & Vojak, B. A. (2012). Serial innovators. Research Technology
Management, 55(6), 42–48. 
Griffith, A., Price, R. L., Vojak, B. & Hoffman, N. (2014). Serial innovators processes: how they
overcome barriers to creating radical innovations. Industrial Marketing Management,
43(8), 1362-1371
Graetz, F., & Smith, A. C. T. (2010). Managing organizational change: A philosophies of change
approach. Journal of Change Management, 10(2), 135–154.