THE IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS One of the conclusions of the 34th Annual Conference of the European Association of Industrial Economics, held in Valencia

in 2007, was that “innovation is at the root of countries’ economic growth and productivity. Countries that generate strategies of promotion of innovation will ensure their growth and competitiveness with other countries with low production costs ” (“Los expertos en Economía Industrial”, 2007). One of the goals of sector-oriented and cross-sector policies in the national and international context for the promotion of competitiveness is that organizations which shape the productive fabric of our society are innovative. There are plenty of reasons for such a requirement. One of these is its contribution to economic growth and social welfare. But moreover, in a globalized world in which market conditions can change rapidly, regulations change more frequently than before in the different fields of activity (local, regional, national, international), the demands made on organizations are more and more complex, and competitiveness is on the increase, organizations must be innovative in order to survive (Amabile, 1983; De Dreu, 2006; Tjosvold, Tang, & West, 2004). Perhaps because of this, some authors argue that the factor most affecting the competitiveness of organizations is the will of management to promote innovation (Botkin, 1985). It is becoming more and more common for organizations, in order to stimulate innovation and increase their response capacity, to develop structures in which work teams are the basic unit (Anderson & West, 1998; Pearce & Ensley, 2004; Tjosvold et al., 2004). An assumption underlying this strategy is the belief that the confluence of different perspectives and skills in work teams will facilitate the development of new ideas. Moreover, the application of such ideas will require the collaboration of several people working in coordinated fashio