March 29, 2023. Shanghai – A new book by CEIBS faculty takes an in-depth look at the components of innovative cultures and outlines how both countries and organizations can be more innovative.

Drawing on extensive interviews with industry and thought leaders, Innovative to the Core: Stories from China and the World details how talent management, leader behaviours, organizational systems and norms, and company culture combine and interact to create environments that are highly innovative.

The book was co-authored by CEIBS Professors Juan Antonio Fernandez, Emily David, and Sophie Chen.

“Countries and organizations really need to innovate to survive. You always have to find a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors to keep people interested. This is what we focus on in the book,” Prof. David says.

Innovative to the Core opens by stating that, while many organizations are on a quest to become more innovative, they often struggle to define what innovation really means.

“Innovation is a bit different from topics like creativity or invention in that it [refers to] creative solutions that people are willing to pay for,” Prof. David says.

The book goes on to explore how most innovative countries and companies are led by visionary and entrepreneurial servant leaders and have agile cultures that feature psychological safety, open dialogue, and diversity.

“[Innovative organizations] have really open lines of communication. They have a high level of diversity of ideas, and they have a lot of psychological safety,” Prof. David says.

Conversely, innovation can be hindered by obstacles created by the actions – or, more often, the inaction – of an organization’s leadership, as well as by inflexible norms and systems.

“[This can happen] when a leader is not open to suggestions or ideas coming from employees, when they punish experimentation and failure [...] or when [organizations] are too bureaucratic or have too many silos or too many barriers to communication,” Prof. Fernandez explains.

The authors also point out that a commitment to innovation goes beyond finding one-off solutions to problems. Instead, it entails embedding innovation deep in the fabric of an organization and practicing it on an on-going basis.

“With our book, we want to encourage organizations to make innovation a part of their normal activity. It’s not a one-stop shop, but something that you do constantly,” Prof. Fernandez says.

Whether you are an innovation practitioner or just plain curious, Innovative to the Core contains valuable insights on the workings of innovation for all kinds of readers.

“If you’re approaching it with intellectual curiosity, we have an interesting comparison about different countries and how they’ve created innovative cultures; but, if you’re looking for practical solutions about how to make your company more innovative, we have that in there, too,” Prof. David says.

“I hope when people read the book, they get ideas – ideas that they can apply to their organizations so they can become innovative,” Prof. Fernandez adds.

Order your copy of Innovative to the Core: Stories from China and the World here.