Leadership in Economy of Communion Companies. Contribution to the Common Good through Innovation
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Leadership in Economy of Communion Companies. Contribution to the Common Good through Innovation Ma Asunción Esteso-Blasco 1 & María Gil-Marqués 1 & Juan Sapena 1 Received: 1 November 2019 / Accepted: 22 September 2020/ # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract
Innovation is strongly associated with survival and growth of all kind of organizations in a global competitive economy. Moreover, nowadays companies are increasingly questioned on how they deliver innovative solutions to deep-seated problems, such as poverty. Our research aims to understand how Economy of Communion (EoC) companies respond to this challenge by applying the logic of gratuitousness and giving. This paper examines the altruistic behaviour of EoC leaders and the connection with organizational innovation, necessary for firm’s survival in the long-term. We analyse these connections through a qualitative descriptive case study of three Spanish EoC companies. The findings reveal altruistic behaviours of leaders seeking the Common Good. Innovation derives from the desire to help others, such as employees and customers. Moreover, the findings reveal that a culture of dialogue among employees, managers and the whole organisation enhances risk-taking and, therefore, innovation The paper contributes to our understanding of how EoC companies are able to reconcile innovation with the ideal of altruism, distinctive of the Economy of Communion. We believe that this study opens up a wide range of future research opportunities on the antecedents of an innovative organizational culture. Keywords Altruism . Leadership . Economy of communion . Innovation
* Juan Sapena [email protected] Ma Asunción Esteso-Blasco [email protected] María Gil-Marqués [email protected]
1
Faculty of Economics and Business, Catholic University of Valencia, Calle Corona 34, E-46003, Valencia, Spain
Humanistic Management Journal
Introduction The intensification of global competition requires an effort on the part of organizations to promote innovation at the same time as improving quality as a means of survival and growth (Cho and Pucik 2005). Change is considered a pre-requisite for survival, not only of individual human beings, but also of all type of organizations. Innovation is also associated with growth, as new business is created by new ideas, by the process of creating competitive advantage in what a firm can offer (Tidd and Bessant 2018). Relevant scholars have called for a deeper understanding of the complexity of innovation, embracing incremental as well as radical innovation (Linton 2009; Chang et al. 2012). Radical innovation occurs in entirely new products or processes that require new knowledge, allowing them to satisfy new customers or emerging markets (Herrmann et al. 2006), while incremental innovation implies progressive improvements in characteristics of already existing products and processes (Green et al. 1995; Chang et al. 2012). Our study adopts a wide perspective of innovation embracing incremental as well as radical innovation. Moreover, as Margolis a
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