Employees are a very important source of innovation and essential for the generation, dissemination and implementation of these ideas throughout the organization. This is especially relevant when considering innovation in services during service (co-) creation such as within the healthcare sector. However, perceived employee involvement in innovation (EII) and between stakeholder group interactions in hospitals has not yet been studied in detail. This paper addresses the following research questions: “How do different employee groups perceive their involvement in the innovation process in hospitals and how do their actual involvement levels differ?” and (2) “How do different employee groups perceive their interaction with other employee groups in the innovation process and how do their actual interactions differ?” We analyzed a single typical German research hospital and conducted episodic interviews with employees representing different staff groups. We revealed that while all groups of employees are involved in innovation activities, perception of their involvement in innovation activities differs widely. There is a gap between perception and actual involvement particularly for lower level employees such as nurses. Further, their interaction differs among employee groups and innovation takes place in-group, rather than through group interaction. With our paper, we add to the understanding of perceived EII in hospitals and discuss measures for hospital management to increase EII.

Innovation is an important value lever, especially within small- and medium-sized companies. However, little research has examined its influence within the investment process of equity investment funds – a surprising circumstance since innovation could increase an investment’s value. This study provides insights into equity investment funds’ perspective on innovation throughout the various phases of the investment process. We conducted in-depth interviews with investment professionals from 30 German-based equity investment funds. Our results show that innovation’s importance depends on the strategic orientation of the equity investment fund type. In addition, our study provides an overview of the criteria, methods, and mechanisms equity investment funds use to support innovation. We show that the emphasis of many equity investment funds on innovation during the identification of investment targets is not reflected in the measures the fund later employs to support innovation processes within the portfolio company. This indicates potential for equity investment funds to be more actively involved in the supervision and management of innovation activities of their portfolio companies. Keywords: Venture capital, corporate venture capital, private equity, family offices, innovation, investment strategy

Das Leipziger Führungsmodell ist ein mehrdimensionaler Orientierungsrahmen, der sich an Studierende und Führungskräfte richtet. Er kann auf verschiedene Organisationsgrößen und -arten in unterschiedlichen Branchen wie auch in öffentlichen Organisationen angewendet werden. Im Mittelpunkt stehen vier zeitlose Führungsfragen: - Verfolgen wir ein übergeordnetes Ziel? (Purpose) - Denken und handeln wir unternehmerisch? (Unternehmergeist) - Ist unser Handeln legitim? (Verantwortung) - Sind wir effektiv? (Effektivität) Neu (im Sinne einer Wiederbesinnung) daran ist die konsequente Verknüpfung von Sinn- und Wertfragen mit den strategischen und operativen Aufgaben unternehmerischer Tätigkeit. Mit dem Modell geht auch die Überzeugung einher, wonach es in einer grundsätzlich nicht beherrschbaren Welt darauf ankommt, handlungsfähig zu bleiben und eine Haltung auszubilden, wonach die Führungskraft sich über einen Wertbeitrag und nicht über Status, Wissen oder Macht definiert.