Innovation and People Management

In the opening chapter we argued that to some extent we have been in a similar situation to that faced today, in that typically post-recession organizations find themselves following one of three pathways, and there is every reason to assume we shall see the same this time. The issues that drive HRM are those that characterize the industry dynamics of the surviving sectors. These reflect a “life cycle pattern” that falls into one of the following:1 Managing a return to rapid growth, but through restrained resources. To a degree, this is picked up in Chapter 4 on lean management. Transitioning through a process of strategic retrenchment. Moving on to a path of strategic renewal through radical innovation. In this chapter we pick on this last path, that of innovation. In doing so, we: outline the need for organizations to improve their management of innovation; define and explore a range of perspectives on innovation (at the macro-level and the micro-level); explain what is required in terms of organization, leadership and people management; raise questions as to whether HR functions are actually doing any of this; lay out the key role that HR needs to play in helping to orientate the organization and its people around an innovation mindset. To do this we have to draw on research on strategy, structure, technological leadership, organizational behavior and organizational psychology.