The role of leadership in creating an environment that fosters innovation

Innovation has emerged as an important factor for the survival of businesses especially when there are external factors at play such as increased competition, economic decline and demanding consumers. Organisations need to innovate to remain attractive in the global economy. To be able to address the needs of customers in a quick way, organisations need to be cognizant of the social and technological shifts so they can be in position to exploit them to their advantage. In today’s competitive environment, innovation is a driver of change and organisations that resist that change are in danger. Regardless of the scope of the resource pool and the organisational excellence, companies cannot shield themselves from change. While change comes with risk and uncertainty, it also presents opportunity. The choice to innovate must be supported by actions that foster an environment in which people are comfortable to be innovative. An organisational climate that inspires members to engage in innovation is vital for the innovation efforts of an organisation to be successful. The purpose of the study was to determine the leadership practices that can be adopted to build and sustain a` work environment that fosters innovation. To achieve this objective a conceptual model was constructed from literature and the relationship between six constructs was tested, namely, organisational culture, leadership style, leadership behaviour, reward and recognition, training and development, and a climate for innovation. To test the conceptual model, a questionnaire was sent to 82 participants working in the media and entertainment industry. The results of the data analysis highlighted that the organisational culture and the leadership behaviour have a significant positive relationship with the climate for innovation. Positive changes in the organisational culture and leadership behaviour are likely to lead to a more conducive organisational climate for innovation