Explore or Exploit Innovation to Survive Uncertain Times? A Theoretical Outlook Based on The Advancement of Employee Creativity Utilizing Promotion and Prevention Goal Framing
Abstract
There has been considerable research in the relationship of exploration and exploitation activities with promotion and prevention focus, especially regarding their impact on innovation and creativity respectively. However, there is a lack of research in this dynamic during times of crisis where innovation and creativity is especially crucial for both firms to thrive and survive. This paper draws upon the regulatory focus theory and its effect on creativity, in order to supplement our theoretical perspective on a firm’s exploratory exploitative innovation strategies during times of crisis, particularly by conceptually linking employee’s creativity to innovation. The results of this study, based on a survey of 218 British students and creativity coding by our researchers, indicate that prevention focus positively affects creativity in individuals at a higher level compared to promotion focus. This study provides an alternate theoretical perspective regarding exploratory and exploitative innovation strategies, based on the development of employees’ creative abilities, through goal framing and increases our practical understanding of the role of creativity during times of crisis within an innovation management framework.
References
Am, J. B., Furstenthal, L., Jorge, F., & Roth, E. (2020, June 17). Innovation in a crisis: Why it is more critical than ever. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/ strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/innovation-in-a-crisis-why-it-is-more-critical-than-ever
Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Westview Press.
Beghetto, R. A. (2021). How times of crisis serve as a catalyst for creative action: An agentic perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 600685.
Bloom, N., Fletcher, R. S., & Yeh, E. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on US firms (No. w28314). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Borino, F., Carlson, E., Rollo, V., & Solleder, O. (2021). International firms and COVID-19: Evidence from a global survey. Covid Economics, 75(7), 30-60.
Dodgson, M., Gann, D., & Phillips, N. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management. Oxford university press.
Duane Ireland, R., & Webb, J. W. (2007). Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating competitive advantage through streams of innovation. Business Horizons, 50(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2006.06.002
Friedman, R. S., & Förster, J. (2001). The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1001–1013. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.6.1001
Godin, B. (2008). Innovation: the History of a Category. Project on the Intellectual History of Innovation.
Higgins, E. T., Shah, J., & Friedman, R. (1997). Emotional responses to goal attainment: Strength of regulatory focus as moderator. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(3), 515–525. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.3.515
Higgins, E. T. (2005). Value from regulatory fit. Current directions in psychological science, 14(4), 209-213.
Iványi, A. S., & Hoffer, I. (1999). The Role of Creativity in Innovation. Társadalom És Gazdaság Közép- És Kelet-Európában / Society and Economy in Central and Eastern Europe, 21(4), 77–101. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41468443
Kremer, H., Villamor, I., & Aguinis, H. (2019). Innovation leadership: Best-practice recommendations for promoting employee creativity, voice, and knowledge sharing. Business Horizons, 62(1), 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2018.08.010
Marques Santos, A., Haegeman, K., & Moncada-Paternò-Castello, P. (2021). The impact of Covid-19 and of the earlier crisis on firms’ innovation and growth: a comparative analysis. Joint Research Centre, Working Papers on Territorial Modelling and Analysis, (03).
Osiyevskyy, O., Shirokova, G., & Ritala, P. (2020). Exploration and exploitation in crisis environment: Implications for level and variability of firm performance. Journal of business research, 114, 227-239.
Pinto, H., Pereira, T. S., & Uyarra, E. (2019). Innovation in firms, resilience and the economic downturn: Insights from CIS Data in Portugal. Regional Science Policy & Practice, 11(6), 951–967. https://doi.org/10.1111/rsp3.12243
Runco, M. A., & Jaeger, G. J. (2012). The standard definition of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 92–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.650092
The importance of creativity in business: HBS Online. Business Insights Blog. (2022, January 25). https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/importance-of-creativity-in-business
Tuncdogan, A., Van Den Bosch, F., & Volberda, H. (2015). Regulatory focus as a psychological micro-foundation of leaders' exploration and exploitation activities. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(5), 838-850.
Tuncdogan, A., Boon, A., Mom, T., Van Den Bosch, F., & Volberda, H. (2017). Management teams’ regulatory foci and organizational units’ exploratory innovation: The mediating role of Coordination Mechanisms. Long Range Planning, 50(5), 621–635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2016.11.002
Wang, L., Cui, Y., Wang, X., Wang, J., Du, K., & Luo, Z. (2021). Regulatory focus, motivation, and their relationship with creativity among adolescents. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 666071.
