Organizational Constraints on Innovation and Intrapreneurship
! It is in this context that the present study was undertaken in large public sector corporations in India . The major objective of this study was to identify the organizational constraints against innovations . The best way to understand such issues is to interact with the innovators themselves because it is they who have experienced these constraints . The first step in the methodology, therefore, was to identify a few highly innovative projects from public sector organizations which was done by rating the innovativeness of 162 projects submitted for an innovation award in the petroleum sector . Thirty-one highly innovative cases were thus selected for a detailed study . A qualitative analysis of the cases brought out the following organizational constraints against innovation: Absence of failure-analysis systems (100%) Lack of patenting initiatives (97%) Lack of recognition for innovations in non-core areas (94%) Poor handling of change management (90%) Informal team formation (81%) Low emphasis on dissemination and commercialization (77%) Inadequacy of rewards and recognition (65%) Procedural delays (58%) Poor documentation and maintenance of records (58%) Easy access to foreign technologies (55%) Unclear norms on linking innovations with career growth (48%) Lack of recognition for contributions by support functions (45%) Ambivalent support from the immediate supervisor (39%) Inadequate systems for the promotion and management of ideas (35%) Lack of facility for pilot testing (29%) . The study clearly shows that Indian organizations are yet to institute many systems and procedures required for supporting innovations . Although many of these organizations have formal R&D departments/divisions, it appears that R&D without the necessary organizational support is merely a ritual rather than the part of a proactive innovation strategy . R&D facilities and organizational support for innovation are not to be treated as independent arrangements but have to emerge from an overall innovation strategy as complementary systems supporting each other . Absence of such an integrative perspective and strategy seems to be the overarching constraint against innovations in Indian public sector organizations