The role of Organizational culture in Innovation Management: A case of Foxconn Technology Group-China (PDF)

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, University of Portsmouth, language: English, abstract: An organization's culture is the established system of doing things, it is a reference point that guides the relationships in an organization and the decision making processes. This is either consciously or unconsciously. Culture affects all aspects of the organization; it is like a web that joins new ideas or relationships with the old ones that represent the accepted thought paradigm. This paradigm is a sieve that only lets through the culturally acceptable strategies in an organization. Modern organizations struggle to create an organizational culture that supports the set goals and objectives of an organization. It is from the organizational culture base that an organization can pursue projects that increase its competitiveness in the market.
Culture is dynamic. Organizations are involved in a program that ensures there is a suitable culture to cope with the changes in the industry of operation, human resource policy and the technological changes that always affect organization. Top on the major organizational practices that require a suitable organizational culture is Innovation. This is among the major competitive advantages that an organization can have especially in this rapidly changing era. The market is not only interested by the quality or price of a company's product but also on the improvements aimed at adding utility while satisfying the consumer wants. The survival of every organization is greatly influenced by its innovation capacity. The dynamism in modern business environments requires organizations to set up structures that ensure continuous flow of new ideas in production marketing and human resources mobilization. In innovation management, an organizations culture plays a major role.
In the recent past China has emerged as a major economic power with multinationals that market their products in almost all parts of the world. The Chinese multinationals have become competitive in the world due to their innovative tendencies. There is always a new product that the market gets from this multinationals especially Hon Hai Precision industry which trades as Foxconn. This study focuses on this company. Foxconn was established in 1974 as a manufacturer of various electrical products. The company has specialized in computer related products like motherboards and micro chips that drive the information technology sector in the world today (Foxconn Technology Group, 2011).