Innovation calling-components of the innovative organisation : a call centre perspective

Smith, Marisa and Ball, Peter and Busi, Marco and van der Meer, Robert (2006) Innovation calling-components of the innovative organisation : a call centre perspective. In: 13th International Annual Conference of the European Operations Management Association, 2006-06-18 - 2006-06-21.

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Abstract

This paper presents a literature review that was carried out to understand and group the organisational characteristics that affect the front-line employees innovative ability to encourage incremental process innovation. The findings of the literature review identified six key organisational areas and subsequent components that were important to stimulating innovative ability. To understand how the organisational components could be related to a particular context they were discussed in relation to a mass production form of call centre that are focused on cost reduction and operational efficiency. It was found that by analysing the context in relation to the organisational components of an innovative organisation that it could be concluded that mass production call centres do not have the characteristics that are apparent of an innovative organisation, which leads to the identification of a wider research area that links types of call centre with their organisational characteristics and their innovative ability. The paper also identifies that the matter of front-line employees role in the organisational innovative ability of call centres is a research area that requires further empirical investigation in order that innovation can be used to support call centres move up the value chain.