Why is innovation a key component of a manager's job in today's business environment?
A) Innovation keeps employees on their toes.
B) Innovation gives companies a "fresh" image without changing much real substance.
C) New approaches are always superior to old approaches.
D) Innovation gives an organization an edge over its competition.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

D) A manager should always be on the lookout for finding ways to improve his or her product and become more efficient. Innovation-finding new ways to do things-is a way to achieve these improvements. Many managers now feel that if they don't innovate they risk becoming uncompetitive. So they encourage innovation to maintain an edge over competitors. The "fresh" image of innovation is not a substantive enough benefit to merit adoption of a new practice. Though innovation may keep workers "on their toes," it is too disruptive to implement for that purpose only. Finally, since only a small fraction of new approaches can be said to be improvements over time-tested practices, most new approaches do not qualify as improvements over old approaches.

Why Is Innovation a Key Component of a Manager's Job