Managing Corporate Culture, Innovation, and Intrapreneurship

In an innovative organization human resources -- and not financial and physical capital -- are an organization's competitive edge, and management must maximize the output of highly educated workers. As the "organization man" becomes a dying species and workers owe their livelihoods primarily to professional training and brain power rather than membership in industrial labor unions, participatory management styles are becoming increasingly important. The rise of the knowledge worker is requiring a shift from an authoritarian management style to a networking, participative style of management. Participatory management evolves into self-management -- employees taking responsibility and initiative, monitoring their work, and using managers and supervisors as teachers and facilitators. Self-management presumes that workers are competent, self-confident, and independent and that people perform better when they manage themselves.

This chapter presents methods for changing the behavior of both managers and employees to support the innovative culture. The change in organization from the traditional organization to the organization needed to support an innovative culture is also described.

In the next several pages we will discuss employee involvement. However, we must realize that employee involvement can not happen unless management adopts a more participative management style. Employee involvement can not survive and thrive in an atmosphere of autocratic management and hierarchical organizations.

The majority of today's managers have been trained and have managed in

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