An Investigation of the Innovation Culture Driving Transformation at a Higher Education Institution

Abstract

The Innovation Center at the center of this work has a dynamic and unique culture that drives organizational transformation. This capstone aims to develop an understanding of the elements that comprise their innovation culture and enable their innovation process. As they continue to growth and develop future focused initiatives, greater awareness of what enables their process will allow the organization to establish benchmarks to measure the strength of their innovation culture. To achieve a high level of understanding this investigation took the shape of a case study that leveraged a mixed methods approach. The data found that the Innovation Center has a robust innovation culture highlighted by the presence of strong leadership, a mission and vision driven focus, and creative and engaged employees who are given the freedom to experiment. The data also showed that community participation in innovation is limited. The findings suggest that while the innovation culture is strong the organization would benefit from increased engagement from the community and greater diversity in the innovation ideation funnel.