Beyond the quality circle: The integration of entrepreneurial action thinking in business organizations

Abstract

In the highly uncertain and competitive operating environments of recent times, an innovative orientation has become essential to all business organizations. This requirement has resulted in the publication of numerous articles dealing with concepts such as quality circles, action plan teams, and strategy formulation groups. Increasing emphasis is also being placed on the importance of effectiveness rather than efficiency; on working 'smarter' rather than working 'harder'. Different variations of these concepts have also been implemented in some organizations. However, such applications frequently do not yield the anticipated benefits. Such disappointing results can usually be attributed to misconceptions on the part of top management regarding the nature of the different aspects of innovation. The appropriate approach to follow to derive optimum benefit from each aspect is frequently also not clear. An explanatory analysis of each aspect of innovation appropriate to every major level of management is attempted in this article. Finally, an integrated perspective, providing an effective linkage between the identified creativity elements, is developed.