The Generation of an Innovation Climate Typology for Pharmaceutical IS Stakeholders - a CASE STUDY

Abstract

This study is a qualitative exploration on the innovation climate within an IS department of a Top 5 Global drug company to develop a comprehensive creative climate taxonomy. 35 innovation stakeholders were interviewed spanning a cross section of the IS function providing a rich view of creative enablers and impediments with the aim of leveraging technology to develop and deliver better medicines. Semi-structured interviews adopting the dramaturgical model were used. An extensive review of the literature was performed which produced an a priori innovation climate typology as the theoretical framework, which was then applied to a case study dataset. The output is an empirical testing of the extant innovation climate typology. A good fit was found. In addition, the contributions from this case study data expands the theoretical framework to produce a more focused niche typology with thick descriptions as support. The 13-level literature classification taxonomy was tested and enlarged to 172 sub classifications providing richer understandings and two mechanisms for climate enablement were recommended. The output of this thesis can be used by innovation managers in Pharma IS Organizations, as they try to leverage innovation to meet the demands of their challenging business environment. The enhanced typology presents a soft a priori template mechanism in which practitioners can view and articulate climates (in Pharma IS departments), which has been identified as a key driver for innovative output. Organizational creativity is not a naturally occurring dynamic, as individuals are inhibited by many human instincts such as personality conflicts, herding of knowledge, competition, and personality profiles. Both enablers and inhibitors are explored.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	A Wood-Harper (Supervisor)