Abstract
This chapter empirically investigated the mediating effect of organizational culture, size and structure on the relationship between innovations and resilience in selected Nigerian universities. The descriptive research design was adopted. The respondents comprised Heads of Departments, Deans of Faculties, Directors, Registrars and Deputy Registrars, and Vice Chancellors and Deputy Vice Chancellors. The analyses of the data involved the use of multiple statistical procedures: Percentages, Mean, Chi-square (hypotheses 1-6) and One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). ANOVA was used to test hypotheses 7-12, using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. The research instrument was quantitatively analyzed and an overall Cronbach alpha coefficient of .845 was realized. In this study, we gathered that significant relationship exists between product innovation and situation awareness, keystone vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity. Process innovation impact on situation awareness, keystone vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity. In addition, relationships were found between administrative innovation and situation awareness, keystone vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity. Correspondingly, we found that organizational culture, size and structure has a significant moderating relationship between innovation and resilience. Nigeria universities like other developing counties universities need effective innovation programs.
TopIntroduction
Global turbulence is a constant phenomenon because competition, instability and uncertainty are constants in the ever changing world, as a result organizations face unprecedented and growing number of potential disruptions to the status quo and the best laid strategic plans. Historically, famous organizations have fallen as a result of their inability to modernize in their risk management and governance strategies (Wieland & Wallenburg, 2013). For organizations to survive and flourish in this new turbulent environment of heightened uncertainty and change, organizations must move ahead of traditional risk and governance models and focus instead on resilience strategies. Resilience applies at all levels: national, regional, organizational and corporate. At the organizational and corporate level for instance, individual companies and operating units must ensure their business operations and service delivery abilities remain capable to carry out their principal business purposes (Sutcliffe & Vogus, 2003).
However, according to Marcos and Macaulay (2008), the business milieu is fast becoming more unified, impulsive and unpredictable and the consequences of the external environment are becoming more extensive. To Marcos and Macaulay, there are a number of observable facts that executives and managers may need to be aware of in their strategic management and planning activity because of the importance that is attached to resilience in organizations. They are:
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Faster and multi-faceted change: Today’s businesses are affected by changes in their political, natural and social contexts.
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Environmental changes: Environmental changes, such as global warming, are becoming a major threat to some sectors, and not just the ones that immediately come to mind.
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Large scale mergers and acquisitions: Global organizations have wide influence, concentrating resources and even superseding some countries’ internal product.
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Faster career transitions: Individuals in organizations are less ‘steady state’: faster career transitions are occurring, and more often than ever before individuals are changing roles within a given organization and across various firms.
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Unprecedented advances in Information Technologies: New information technologies are creating new communications channels, shifting consumer patterns and new social ways of linking up.
However, company’s survival and prosperity depend more on what it does before such a disruption occurs than on the actions it takes as the event unfolds (Sheffi, 2005). Bevan (2010) perceives organization’s ability to recognize resilience as a fundamental issue that requires programmatic response across the organization. Bevan in his study addressed many of the same difficulties but do not frame their response with regards to building resilience. Therefore, the purpose is to supply the language and the categories through which we can speak of, and recognize, resilience in its organizational context, which means differentiating it from the more prosaic usages offering some analytical underpinnings.
Despite all these empirical expositions, knowledge appears to be lacking on how innovation impacts resilience. Hence, innovation appears to be the most desire thing in organization (McManus, Seville, Brunsdon, & Vargo, 2008). In this study, we are looking at innovation and resilience from the point of internal competences rather than external constrains point of view of Nigerian universities.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Process Innovation: Series of actions or tasks performed in order to make or achieve something.
Organizational Size: Is determined by number of its workers, the largeness of its operation, and its market share and reach.
Organizational Resilience: Sustaining and bouncing back when faced with adversity and problems in order to succeed.
Organizational Culture: Refers to the complex set of ideologies, traditions, commitments, and values that are shared throughout an organization, which in turn influences how an organization conducts its whole performance.
Organizational Adaptive Capacity: This is university ability to constantly evolve to match or exceed the needs of its operating environment before those needs become critical.
Product Innovation: The development of new ideas, changes in design of established innovations, or use of new materials or components in the management and or administration of established innovations.
Administrative Innovation: The coordination and combination of human and material resources of university affairs towards achieving its pre-determined goals.
Organizational Structure: Consists of various units, sections and departments that contribute to an organization's overall mission and goals.
Organizational Innovation: It includes the production of knowledge, development and marketing, and the introduction of a new, redesigned or substantially improvement in the goods and services rendered to the society.
Organizational Situation Awareness: This is the understanding of the business landscape i.e. what is happening around it and what information means for the organization.