Antithetic Leadership: Designers Are Different, Business People Too
Many established business models are being revolutionized by huge strides in IT development, the availability of cheap money, and the emergence of new buyer groups. To address these new paradigms, companies need to establish a permanent innovation capabil
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Abstract Many established business models are being revolutionized by huge strides in IT development, the availability of cheap money, and the emergence of new buyer groups. To address these new paradigms, companies need to establish a permanent innovation capability that goes far beyond existing research and development (R&D) and idea management. Innovation capability, often also referred to as (business) innovation, complements a company’s transformation capability, which remains vital. To survive and remain competitive, companies must master both capabilities and the underlying logic in parallel. We use the term antithetic leadership to describe this duality in management behavior. This concept distinguishes between two areas of management logic: business (business transformation and operation) and design (ideation and innovation), each of which has its own theories and entrenched culture. Antithetic leadership is not an additional variant of cooperative leadership, but is rather the deliberate and purposeful practice of contradictory leadership in the same ecosystem at the same time, if necessary, by the same leader. To demonstrate what is happening in this inspiring new area, we will look at a consulting unit of SAP: The Business Transformation Services (BTS) group is facing the challenge of cultivating antithetic leadership, namely finding a way for both management cultures to relate, and enabling a positive exchange of ideas. Until now, the management culture of this group followed purely business logic.
M. von Kutzschenbach Institute for Information Systems, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Basel, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] P. Mittemeyer SAP Business Transformation Services (BTS), SAP (Schweiz) AG, Regensdorf, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] W. Wagner (*) SAP Business Transformation Services (BTS), SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG, Walldorf, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 G. Oswald, M. Kleinemeier (eds.), Shaping the Digital Enterprise, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40967-2_4
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1 Introduction It’s not unusual for a new trend to cause a stir in management circles, but the hype generated by innovation is reaching seismic levels. In much the same way as continuous growth or digitalization, it is being hailed as a remedy for all ills, and managers everywhere are keen to stock their medicine cabinets with this new wonder drug. Whether as a precaution against disruptive business models deployed by the competition, or as a cure-all in the never-ending battle against falling margins, innovation is being prescribed by managers across the board and around the world, making it a duty of every employee to critically assess existing business practices. In this chapter, we’ll explore the current challenges companies are facing in the field of ever-increasing demand for innovation, and we’ll introduce and discuss a new management style: antithetic leadership. A
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