Ch 7: Leadership Technology Adoption: Transactional and Transformational Approaches to Innovation

From the Book: The Refractive Thinker®: Vol. IX: Effective Business Practices in Leadership and Emerging Technologies

Summary

Organizations must continue to manage change to remain competitive in the marketplace. As organizations implement new ideas and innovations, leaders should understand how to manage the change to achieve organizational success. Changes occur within the entire gamut of business -- external customers, supply chain, organizational culture, and new technologies vital to the firm’s success. This chapter examines transformational and transactional leadership and the various decision-making approaches used by each leadership style in adopting new ideas and innovations. Each leadership style is distinct in its use and how the leader may manage the change and approach the adoption of innovation. Using Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory, the authors connect the leadership approaches with the adoption phases of implementing a new idea or innovation. Some of the factors that drive this adoption are knowledge of the innovation, communication within the organization, the amount of time for implementation and adoption, and finally the organizational culture. As the leader identifies these areas, they can then effectively implement the innovation according to their leadership approach in connection with Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory.