The classic business goals are cost efficiency, growth, and control. They are achieved well by functional management and hierarchical organizations. But traditional management has become less appropriate today. In the 1990s, competition has markedly increased and consequently the rules of competition have changed rapidly. These rapid changes disable the ability of both public and private organizations to predict the future with any degree of reliability; thus discontinuity occurs. To survive and flourish in a period of discontinuous change, enterprises must view change as not only inevitable, but also desirable. Therefore management innovation is undeniably inevitable. However, understanding management innovation is one thing, implementing it successfully is another. Many companies who tried management innovation couldn't get good results because they didn't effectively deal with the resistance of employees.
Employees' response to management innovation is very important in the process of innovation in order to obtain the best results. Employees' estimation of innovation consists of their evaluation of wage, authority, likelihood of promotion, job stability, relationship, and job load. Employees' estimation of the method of management innovation includes their evaluation of the enterprise's innovative climate, top executives' willingness, organizational support, their participation, and communication of innovation.
How can enterprises motivate employees to become involved in management innovation? They may get the solution from a learning organization. In a learning organization, employees find what they need when they need it. Learning can involve activities like formal study, exposure to new experiences or reflection. It typically involves sharing information among multiple knowledge sources. Learning occurs in individuals, in teams, in divisions or in the overall organization as a whole when mental models at an individual level become shared among other individuals, among teams, divisions or across an entire world-wide organization.
In the learning organization, employees can share their knowledge and vision, improve their ability, and have good communication with each other. These are fundamental requirements for successful management innovation. So, developing a learning organization is one of the best methods for management innovation.
