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Continuous innovation through company wide employee participation

Tor Tonnessen (RF – Rogaland Research Institute, Stavanger, Norway)

The TQM Magazine

ISSN: 0954-478X

Article publication date: 1 April 2005

5535

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to address the failure of prevailing international management concepts to utilize the potentials of company wide employee participation in innovation, and give the reader some practical solutions and some ideas about how to exploit these potentials more efficiently.

Design/methodology/approach

These solutions and ideas are developed mainly through two Norwegian action research programmes that have been carried out together with industry over a ten‐year period. The main topic of research has been to see how good practice from prevailing international management concepts like total quality management and business process re‐engineering may be integrated with good practice from the Norwegian industrial democracy tradition into a new approach to continuous innovation. A case study approach has been used.

Findings

The case studies showed that a better utilization of the potentials of company wide employee participation in innovation gives efficiency as well as working environment improvements.

Research limitations/implications

The case studies also showed that more knowledge and a further development of practical tools that ease participation in innovation is an important challenge for future R&D.

Practical implications

In order to fully exploit the potentials of employee participation in innovation companies and consultants need to adjust their practice in the direction of a more participatory approach.

Originality/value

The paper gives consultants, academics, managers and shop stewards a framework and some practical tools for employee participation in innovation that may be used at the different company levels. It is argued and shown how activities at the different levels may be co‐ordinated and work reciprocal supportive.

Keywords

Citation

Tonnessen, T. (2005), "Continuous innovation through company wide employee participation", The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 195-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780510583254

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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