WHAT’S NEW? TOWARDS A CROSS-CULTURAL LENS FOR INNOVATION

Abstract

In light of the growing importance of innovation in the pretext of competition in today’s world, along with the growing prevalence of blurring national borders of the corporate world, this thesis seeks to explore the cross-cultural differences in innovation processes and behavior across China, India and Singapore. In particular, this thesis discusses the similarities and differences of work teams on the following predictors of innovation, and their effects on innovation success in the three countries: Exploration and Exploitation, Idea Generation and Idea Implementation, Vision, Cohesion, and Support for Innovation. Data from 624 individuals in 138 teams (53 from China, 42 from India and 43 from Singapore) comprising of at least two team members and their supervisors were examined. Results suggest that Exploration and Cohesion are positively related with innovation success in both India and Singapore but not for China, while Exploitation, Idea Generation and Idea Implementation are not significant predictors of innovation success. Support for Innovation is positively related to innovation success in all three countries, and is found to be a moderator for the relationship between Vision and innovation success. Taken together, these findings give insight into the differences between three Asian countries that receive much foreign investment in the corporate sector, and allow managers to be more mindful when managing and interacting with these teams to better achieve their goals and avoid misunderstandings.