Jens-Uwe Meyer

• In times of increased market dynamics, companies must be capable of initiating and implementing innovation projects that vary greatly in type, speed and degree of innovation. Many companies do not succeed. This paper introduces an innovation management framework that allows companies to successfully face this challenge. Using empirical data from 200 staff members employed by German, Austrian and Swiss companies, four types of innovation cultures were determined, each of which foster a different degree of organizational creativity. Proactive innovators (21%) promote organizational creativity at a high level and across all categories. Strategic innovators (26%) foster innovation by focusing on their strategy and their value system. Innovative optimizers (36%) promote more adaptive levels while operational innovators (16%) promote low levels of organizational creativity. Each type enables a company or a business unit to manage different degrees of innovation projects. The holistic innovation management model introduced in this paper will enable companies to better meet the challenges of rapidly changing markets.