Malaysian leaders can trigger innovative in employees Essay Example

have integrated ideas from earlier leadership theories with ideas from theories of HRM as well as leadership styles, organizational change, and strategic market structure. In this way, we explain how Malaysian leaders at all levels can use certain behaviors to activate subsidiaries' innovation in workplaces. Effective leaders adapt their behaviors to changing situations and find an appropriate balance for trade-offs and competing demands.

They are guided by relevant internal values and a strong nucleus political orientation for the organisation.

Invention

Definition of invention

Invention has been defined in assorted ways and as both a procedure and a merchandise. As a procedure, Amabile ( 1988 ) defined invention as the "successful execution of originative thoughts within an organisation". Innovation is therefore a procedure through which persons and groups of persons attempt to alter some facet of their work or their work merchandises in order to derive some benefit they value. Some of these benefits are higher productiveness, better merchandise or service quality, better working conditions, and improved interpersonal processes ( West ; A ; Farr, 1990 ).

According to Burgelman, A. Sayles (1986) and Utterback (1994), invention refers to phenomena that involve different manners and constructions. This broad definition of invention can be further categorized into four subcomponents (Bogota, A. Oslo, 2009). The first subcomponent is Product Innovation, which refers to the introduction of a new or enhanced good or service. The second subcomponent is Process Innovation, which refers to the introduction of a new or significantly improved production or delivery method.

The Marketing Innovation refers to the implementation of a novel sales technique that leads to significant changes in product design or packaging, product promotion, or pricing. On the other hand,

the Organizational Innovation involves creating or modifying business practices, workplace organization, or external relations. According to Schumpeter (1912, 1942), who pioneered the modern usage of the term, innovation is the process by which a company introduces new technology into the economy. Companies that develop innovative and more cost-effective methods of producing existing goods can reduce their costs and generate additional profits from selling them at market price. Likewise, companies that develop new and superior products can also earn profits surpassing their input costs because only they have the ability to manufacture these new products.

Both the quantity and quality of inventions are important, as noted by West (1990). Simply implementing a large number of inventions does not guarantee higher performance. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the quality of the inventions, focusing on their novelty, significance, and effectiveness (West, 1990).

Importance of Invention Significance

Organizations face the choice between adapting to the external environment or risking failure. While some organizations only need major changes occasionally, others require continuous adaptation.

Adapting to the external environment involves responding to threats and opportunities arising from changes in technology, economic conditions, competition, and customer demands and expectations. Adaptation also involves finding ways to acquire necessary materials and resources, and taking action to increase the sale of products and services to customers. To enhance adaptation and drive changes in organizations, innovation is a necessary process. In recent decades, corporate executives and public policy makers worldwide have come to recognize that innovation in general is something to be encouraged - that the benefits of innovation far outweigh the costs.

The Life Cycle of Innovation

Once innovation occurs, new ideas may be adopted by others. The life cycle

of innovations can be described as an S-curve.

The S-curve depicts the growth of a house's gross or productivity over time. Initially, during the early phase of an innovation, growth is slow as the new product establishes its presence. Eventually, as customers start demanding the product, growth is allowed to continue. However, towards the end of its life cycle, growth gradually slows down and may even decline.

In later stages, no amount of new investment in that product will provide a normal rate of return. Advanced companies will typically be working on new inventions that will ultimately replace older ones. Then, consecutive s-curves will come along to replace older ones and continue to drive growth upwards.

The Importance of Advanced Behaviors

Malaysian companies must engage in advanced behaviors to overcome the challenges and risks that result from the rapid pace of changes in the external environment as well as pressures arising from global competition.

The directors of an established company need to convince everyone about the importance and usefulness of the new idea and encourage them to adopt advanced behaviors throughout the organization. Advanced behavior refers to behavior that is aimed at introducing and implementing new and beneficial ideas, processes, products, or procedures within a group or organization. Engaging in advanced methods and processes helps companies gain a competitive edge and be successful in the market. In order to initiate innovations, employees must generate ideas by engaging in behaviors that explore opportunities, identify performance gaps (such as when the company recognizes certain customer segments that others overlook) or meet existing customer needs that the organization is not serving well. Ultimately, these behaviors aim to provide solutions for problems. Some

authors have identified and discussed the differences between advanced behavior and creativity.

Unlike creativity, advanced behavior has a practical aspect that aims to achieve benefits and produce advanced outcomes (West and Farr, 1990; Scott and Bruce, 1994). It is not limited to the creation of new products, services, and work processes. Creativity is considered a part of advanced behavior, particularly in the early stages of innovation where problems or performance gaps are identified and ideas are generated in response to the need for innovation (West, 2002).

The Determinants of Innovation on Organizations

Smaller firms such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have an advantage in innovation due to their ability to quickly respond to market changes and initiate rapid innovative actions. This advantage stems from effective managerial control and flexibility which enable smaller firms to adapt easily to changes in demand and technology (Mazzucato, 2002).

While innovation is a risky endeavor for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it plays a vital role in their growth. SMEs face challenges in obtaining external capital, which is crucial for innovative projects but comes at a high cost. In contrast, larger firms have more convenient access to internally generated funds and resources (Cohen and Levin, 1989). They can secure greater amounts of external capital compared to smaller counterparts and also attract highly skilled specialists while establishing extensive R research labs.

In addition, large companies can benefit from economies of scale and learning curve economies by investing in production (Fisher and Temin, 1973). However, large companies are often controlled by risk-averse accountants, and managers become administrative officials and lack dynamism. For large companies, regulations are usually more strictly enforced. Additionally, another noticeable disadvantage of large

companies is that internal communications tend to be burdensome, with lengthy decision-making chains resulting in slow response times. Therefore, Schumpeter (1942) developed a theory that linked a company's ability to innovate with its size.

The author suggests that smaller companies have an advantage over larger ones because of their flexibility, while big companies can become hindered by bureaucratic structures. Rothwell and Dodgson (1994) argue that small businesses benefit from behavioral advantages rather than the material advantages that larger competitors receive. They highlight the fact that the bureaucratic structures of large companies may impede the development of new projects due to resistance within their organization, whereas small businesses with entrepreneurial management can make quick decisions to seize technological and market opportunities. Therefore, we recommend that Malaysian companies avoid growing in size to remain adaptable to external changes and environmental threats.

In order to focus on their core-competence activities, organizations can outsource non-core operations. By doing this, they can concentrate on their main activities and take innovative actions, leading to a competitive advantage over other global companies.

The Impact of Market Structure

Market structure also affects the innovation efforts of organizations. Research suggests that a competitive environment with low entry barriers allows for a higher rate of innovation (Levin et al., 1985). Schumpeter (1942) explains that larger corporations with some degree of monopolistic influence may have an advantage in developing innovations.

Hence, it is important for Malayan firms to welcome new market entrants as they will force them to be more innovative and advanced. This will help them grow and progress in their industry.

The Impact of Internal Factors

The factors that influence a company's behavior and drive innovation have been analyzed in detail

(Teece D.J., 1992; 1996). These internal or organizational factors include the quality of the employees, the company's experience, diversification, and vertical integration. The quality of human capital and the company's experience are crucial for learning processes and adopting new technologies, as the nature of innovation is tacit and cumulative. Diversification allows for the transfer of innovations developed in one sector to another, reducing research costs. Vertical integration enhances the effectiveness of systemic innovations that require simultaneous action at different production stages.

In addition to the aforementioned internal factors, the characteristics of the organization and the strength of backward and forward linkages are also important. These characteristics facilitate effective exchange and communication of information between organizations and the market, customers, and suppliers. To create a more conducive organizational environment for innovation, we propose that Malaysian companies should only hire qualified and innovative human resources who are always eager to learn within the organization. They should avoid hiring passive and alienated employees who are unwilling to participate in innovation and organizational changes and instead focus on recruiting motivated individuals. Moreover, if the current structure of the organizational hierarchy is not vertically integrated, managers need to consider restructuring it.

The Impact of Outside Influences

The innovativeness of a firm heavily relies on certain external factors. Two particularly significant factors are the size of the market and the increase in demand, as they greatly affect the motivation to introduce innovations. In terms of market size, the overall output of the company affects the average cost of research activities and investments in innovation. The growth in demand enables firms to attract new customers through product innovations, leading

to an expansion of their market share and profitability.

Many studies have explored the significance of these factors (Cohen W., 1995). For those Malay households whose domestic market is stagnant or experiencing a decline in growth rate, we recommend expanding their businesses overseas and exploring export or partnership strategies to sell their products there. This can help increase their demand growth rate, but they need to be aware of the culture and regulations of the host countries in which they will operate.

The Determinants of Innovation in individuals

The generation of creative ideas begins with individuals, who then decide whether to present their creative ideas to the group for further discussion and development (Agrell; A; Gustafson, 1996; Drazin, Glynn, and Kazanjian, 1999; Rosenfeld; A; Servo, 1990; West, 1990).

It is crucial to determine the factors that can influence individual employees' innovative behavior. Social knowledge has a significant impact on stimulating individual creativity and innovation. Some individuals possess unique and creative ideas based on their personal social understanding and experiences. Along with individual knowledge, organizational knowledge also plays a role in employees' innovative activities (Victor, Francisco, and Antonio, 2008). The circulation of knowledge obtained from internal and external sources creates a flow of information that leads to organizational learning through various transformation processes. This newfound knowledge then drives innovation. To promote effective organizational learning in Malaysian companies, we propose integrating outsourcing into the organizational strategy.

Employees throughout the entire organization often have the opportunity to learn from and exchange knowledge with foreigners who have a higher level of expertise. Outsourcing allows companies to enhance their resource pool by bringing in more experts. This can improve the chances of achieving advanced performance

by adding new entities to the network. By incorporating individuals with fresh perspectives and shared goals into the group of problem solvers, Malaysian companies can benefit greatly.

However, it is important for directors to ensure that the goals of team members are closely connected through outsourcing.

The Impact of Specific Leadership Behaviors on Innovation

Leadership involves influencing others to achieve desired organizational outcomes. Effective leaders encourage subordinates to unleash their individual creative potentials and foster such behavior. The innovation process consists of two primary stages: idea generation and implementation of new ideas or behaviors.

Jong and Hartong (2007) propose a set of leadership behaviors that influence both the generation of ideas and the implementation of those innovative behaviors in subordinates.

Intellectual stimulation

Intellectual stimulation involves raising employees' awareness of problems and inspiring them to generate ideas by enticing and encouraging them to do so. Malaysian leaders need to evoke this potential in employees and cultivate it.

Stimulating knowledge diffusion

Encouraging the sharing of information among subsidiaries enhances idea generation.

The ability of employees to generate ideas depends on their awareness of needs, trends, and challenges in their professional and business environment. Therefore, leaders in Malaysia must make an effort to provide their followers with the necessary knowledge and help them understand it easily.

Providing vision

Leaders strive to communicate their ambitions to their followers through inspiring visions. It is believed that providing an overarching vision enhances both the generation of ideas and the implementation behavior of subordinates. Directors should aim to be visionary and inspire their followers to help them achieve these goals.

Consulting

Research indicates that involving followers in the decision-making process is a strong determinant of innovative behavior.

Leaderships

are convinced of the value of inquiring subsidiaries for their sentiment. Therefore, Malayan leaders have to move as a manager and facilitator for their subsidiaries to steer them in the best manner of handling their careers.

Delegating

Leaders can influence the innovation process by allowing their subsidiaries freedom and liberty to make their own decisions. So Malayan directors should promote delegation in their working places and let employees feel that they are valuable.

Support for innovation

In advanced processes, mistakes should be ignored and instead should be seen as a learning opportunity. Leaders don't have to penalize subordinates for their mistakes, otherwise, they will hinder their innovative capabilities from flourishing.

Organizing feedback

Although Malayan leaders have the ability to provide feedback on current organizational procedures, it will have an impact on the innovative behaviors of subsidiaries if they are asked to take on this responsibility and are encouraged to fix any issues.

Recognition

Malayan leaders need to be attentive in recognizing the contributions of their subsidiaries. They should appreciate and listen to their new ideas, even if they do not necessarily approve of them.

Wages

The use of fiscal wagess is beneficial in acknowledging the efforts of employees when they are introducing new services or work procedures. Malaysian leaders must establish an effective rewards system in their organization to meet the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of their subordinates.

Providing resources

Once a decision to implement a promising idea is made, it is essential to provide the necessary resources. Leaders need to support their subordinates' plans by providing

the required organizational resources to move forward with their innovative ideas.

Monitoring

Controlling and monitoring have a negative impact on employees' creative performance. The lack of innovation situations were associated with strict monitoring standards.

Therefore, Malayan leaders must prohibit controlling actions, especially for professional and educated followers.

Task assignment

Task assignment is another important function of leadership that must be done effectively. Leaders must delegate specific tasks to employees who have relevant expertise and experience in that job, otherwise the result will not be satisfactory.

Advanced role modeling

Leaders must be a good example of advanced behavior.

They need to learn how to exploit chances, generate thoughts, and set attempts in development. Then, followers will imitate this behavior and learn how to be effective from their leader. Therefore, Malaysian leaders should also be advanced and exhibit such behavior themselves.

The Impact of Leadership Style on Innovation

According to Victor, Francisco, and Antonio (2008), there is evidence that leadership style acts as a strategic factor that influences innovation and knowledge generation in an organization. The researchers demonstrated that the application of transformational leadership style, in contrast to transactional leadership style, stimulates innovation and knowledge within organizations. This type of leadership inspires organizational learning by assisting employees in discovering their cognitive models and building self-confidence.

Transformational leaders promote the sharing of knowledge by continuously developing organizational cognition and providing required external information to organization agents, who will use it in practice. They also encourage the search for new opportunities, motivating employees to take on greater responsibilities and make innovative efforts at work. These leaders initiate and implement changes and introduce new ideas

in organizations. They create a visionary goal and effectively communicate it to subordinates, motivating them to learn and follow it.

Transformational leaders empower their followers and give them the authority to make their own decisions. They always care about employees and aim to meet their needs. Additionally, this type of leadership promotes organizational learning and allows the organization to learn through experimentation, communication, dialogue, personal mastery, and organizational knowledge creation. Transformational leaders play a crucial role in generating innovation by creating an innovative environment and encouraging innovative behaviors of followers through an effective reward system. To further enhance the environment of innovation, we propose that Malaysian leaders commit themselves to implementing this leadership style in their organizations and assist their subordinates in fully developing their potential in creativity and innovation.

Creation of an Innovation Climate

The innovation climate is the environment created by a leader who is dedicated to pursuing new ideas and encouraging individuals to express their innovative thoughts. When people believe that the climate is inclusive and that their contributions are appreciated, they are more likely to utilize their abilities to innovate. However, if people feel isolated from one another due to geographic or socio-emotional distances, they are less likely to be innovative (Scott, S. and Bruce, R.).

(1994) discovered evidence suggesting a strong connection between advanced behavior and organizational climate. Additionally, the study supported the idea that the relationship between advanced behavior and climate is stronger in non-routine and high discretion tasks compared to routine tasks with low discretion. The behavior of leaders plays a crucial role in maintaining a positive advanced climate (Jong and Hartog, 2007). To maintain a vibrant advanced climate, especially when

teams are separated by space, time, psychological factors, or race, Malaysian leaders should focus on reinforcing leadership confidence.

Leaderships should focus on creating a supportive and cultural environment that helps remote workers adapt to their teams and, in turn, foster radical or incremental innovations. Regular communication, encouraging messages, and personal visits to those responsible for future ideas can prevent widespread negativity. These actions will help Malaysian leaders establish a conducive atmosphere for generating new ideas.

The creation of psychological safety is crucial to preventing potential threats to creativity and innovation. Several researchers have emphasized the importance of "safe" climates and "psychological safety" to achieve this (e.g., Edmonson, 1999; Kahn, 1990; Nystrom, 1979; Smith, 1993; West, 1990).

Insecure climates have been found to decrease a group member's willingness to take risks (Edmonson, 1999; Smith 1993), share ideas (Nystrom, 1979; Smith, 1993), be self-expressive (Kahn, 1990), engage in group learning (Edmonson, 1999), and participate in the process of change (Edmonson, 1999; Kahn, 1990; West, 1990). Since innovation in groups often involves trial-and-error learning and experimentation with alternative solutions and requires the sharing of information within the group, group psychological safety should be essential for innovation. Therefore, Malaysian leaders must provide mental psychological safety for their followers and avoid any kind of punishment when they exhibit innovative behavior; instead, they should be motivated and encouraged to fulfill their job.

The determinants of Innovation on Work Groups

Not only Malaysian leaders can play an important role in organizational innovation but also groups of followers can greatly assist organizations in effectively implementing innovative decisions.

Group support for Invention

Group support for invention is the collective attitude, endorsement, and practical assistance in promoting new and improved methods of

production within the workplace (West; A; Anderson, 1996, p. 686). It refers to how much the group collaboratively dedicates resources to the discussion, development, evaluation, and implementation of creative ideas. These resources encompass the group's time, materials, ideas, and information. Numerous field studies have consistently demonstrated that group support for invention is a significant predictor of group innovation (Burningham; A; West, 1995; Pirola-Merlo; A; Mann, 2004; West; A; Anderson, 1996).

The text explains that group support is important for fostering creativity and innovation. When individuals perceive their group or organizational climate as supportive, they are more likely to engage in creative and innovative acts. A supportive climate can be characterized by factors such as trust among team members, cooperation, shared commitment to goals and tasks, and interpersonal support. According to West (1990), group support for innovation refers to the expectation, approval, and practical support for introducing new and improved ways of doing things in the workplace. This support can be measured by the extent to which team members dedicate time, cooperate, provide verbal support, and allocate resources to implement new ideas and proposals (West & Anderson, 1996, p.).

686 ). As a result, Malaysian workers must exhibit individual behaviors that fully engage in the group's task-oriented activities. This means that when a group member initiates the innovation process by generating and proposing creative ideas, other group members must support and collaborate with them to sustain the process.

Individual innovativeness

Individual innovativeness refers to the extent to which group members suggest new and useful ideas to their group. The higher the overall level of individual innovativeness within the group, the greater the group's support for innovation. According to Taggar (2002),

"groups perform best when they consist of creative group members and effective team creativity-relevant processes" (p.

According to West and Anderson (1996), the invention process in teams begins with the generation of ideas by individuals. They suggest that the proportion of individuals in a team with a high inclination to innovate will explain a significant proportion of the variation in team innovation. This proposition has been supported by research conducted by Bunce and West (1995), Burningham and West (1995), and West and Anderson (1996). While West and colleagues found a direct relationship between inclination to innovate and group innovation, it is likely that the level of individual innovativeness within the group will also positively influence group support for innovation. Therefore, it is important for Malaysians to develop their own innovation capabilities and improve their related abilities over time.

Social Information

The group's provision of social information can impact creative and innovative behavior. Social information from the group can promote creative action in groups when it increases a member's perceived need for change in a work role (Farr & Ford, 1990); when it enhances group members' self-efficacy for implementing change (Farr & Ford, 1990; Redmond, Mumford, & Teach, 1993); when it offers verbal and material support for change efforts (Farr & Ford, 1990; West & Farr, 1989); and when members provide relevant information and multiple perspectives for the individual to consider (Farr & Ford, 1990). However, innovative individuals may sometimes choose to keep their ideas to themselves in order to avoid disapproval by the group or because they do not trust their own intuition (Asch, 1956; Nemeth & Owens, 1996; Nemeth & Staw, 1989).

Pressures to conform to majority opinions are another reason why individuals may be unwilling to offer their ideas to the group. According to Jehn (1995), "group pressure toward consensus can also suppress the creativity needed to complete nonroutine tasks effectively, because members will focus on building consensus rather than entertaining innovative ideas" (p. 260).

In this regard, Malayan employees must strive to increase their societal knowledge through various means such as watching media, reading books, and other unconventional ways to acquire the necessary knowledge for organizational improvement.

Decision

We believe that this paper contributes to our understanding of innovation in Malaysian workplaces. Firstly, it presents the factors that determine innovation in organizations. Previous research on organizational innovation has focused on factors such as the size of the company, market structure, and external and internal environmental factors.

This paper discusses how Malayan leaders can effectively utilize these factors to promote overall advancement in organizations. Additionally, it examines the influencing factors of innovation on individual subsidiaries within Malaysian organizations. Many recent studies have focused on the creativity and productivity of employees.