The Impact of Organizational Capital Investment on Employee Innovation in the Manufacturing Industry

Dr. Hyacinth Nwachukwu

• Publisher: Author Reputation Press, LLC
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781649615398
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

This study involved an exploration of the impact of organizational capital investment on employee innovation in the manufacturing industry. The

overarching question was: Does organizational capital investment impact employee innovation in the manufacturing industry? Organizations tend to

place much emphasis on how skill drives innovation, but not on how capital investment impact employee innovation. The research was guided using a

qualitative phenomenological case study design to probe the impact of capital investment on employee innovation. Participants were selected through a convenience and purposive sampling method using the researcher's personal professional network as well as the snowball method to seek participants from individuals' referrals. Data collection involved personal interviews, audio recording, and note taking. The assumption was that employee innovation is not an option but a necessity, because organizations compete on global fronts for resources and market share. Consequently, capital investment in machinery and employee innovation becomes symbiotic in nature, not mutually exclusive. Results showed employee innovation can be impacted and enhanced through the acquisition and application of appropriate technological capital investment. The researcher recommends further research to ascertain whether the amount of organizational capital investment is proportional to the development of employee innovativeness.

Chapter One

Introduction

The first chapter of any dissertation is considered the most critical as it is intended to give a clear view of the context of the study, and other related factors that follow depend largely on how well this particular chapter is designed and structured (Creswell, 2007). Chapter 1 contains details of the problem background, purpose, and research questions, thus setting the stage for unveiling the overall problem under investigation (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 2005; Creswell, 2007).

Technology and industrialization can be said to have given rise to the globalization of trade, consequently making it possible for the international economic community to initiate and embrace capital investment strategies cum trade negotiation as championed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international and regional trading blocs (Manyika & Pelissie du Rausas, 2011). The idea is to remove trade barriers among trading partners and stimulate global economic growth. This stimulation of a global economy, in a chain reaction, triggered the desire of leaders of multinational corporations (MNCs) to reconsider their organizational capital investment strategies in relation to employee innovation (Marimuthu, Arokiasamy, & Ismail, 2009). For example, the creation of the Internet, a situation attributable to employee innovation, accounted for significant growth in global productivity, thus adding about 3.4% to global gross domestic product (GDP; Manyika & Pelissie du Rausas, 2011). Therefore, the discussion of the impacts of organizational capital investment on employee innovation will not be complete without reference to the technology and enterprise competitiveness that drive employee innovation (Marimuthu et al., 2009; Rastogi, 2002).

Innovation can emanate from creative ideas, and creative ideas can be enhanced by the application of technology in the form of organizational capital investment. The capacity of a firm to innovate, both in human resource and organizational capital investment (i.e., plant, machinery, and equipment), can be seen as a fundamental process toward the attainment of competitive advantage and economies of scale over other competitors within the same industry (Tether, Mina, Consoli, & Gagliardi, 2005).

Employee innovation can be considered a natural phenomenon, though it can be complemented through the application of exogenous auxiliary resources such as technology, machinery, and equipment, thereby leading to organizational, human, and technological innovation (Pyka & Esben, 2013). This form of organizational philosophy tends to provide an enabling environment for firms to develop and exploit opportunities for employee innovation and eradicate inertia emanating from radical shifts in capital investment strategies and unfavorable technological changes. In the actual sense of the word, the term employee innovation portends creative resource and idea generation that leads to the transformation of values relative to the production of goods and services (Davila, Epstein, & Shelton, 2006). It places more emphasis on initiating new ideas and putting them into gainful use (Mexias & Glynn, 1993).

Problem Statement

A good number of researchers have addressed the issue of organizational capital investment relative to job performance (Davila et al., 2006; Nelson & Pack, 1999). However, these researchers failed to provide a critical assessment of the impact of organizational capital investment on employee innovation. After a comprehensive review of existing literature related to the current study topic of the impact of organizational capital investment on employee innovation in the manufacturing industry, it became apparent that this topic was worthy of investigation. However, it is important to point out specifically that the gap in the literature as reviewed relates to the fact that research has not been conducted regarding the impact of capital investment on employee innovation in the manufacturing industry. This particular study was designed explore this as a new theory to contribute to the field of business administration. Therefore, the problem statement points to the fact that it is not known how organizational capital investment impacts employee innovation in the manufacturing industry. Additionally, this research was designed to shed more light on how organizations identify and create the appropriate capital investment, and promote an enabling environment that is conducive for employee innovation (Davila et al., 2006).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the current study was to address the unanswered questions confronting leaders of competing firms in the industry. That is, whether organizational capital investment impacts employee innovation, as it is not known how capital investment impacts employee innovation in the manufacturing industry. Also, it is important to note that most organizations place much emphasis on how skills drive innovation but give little or no attention to how organizational capital investment impacts employee innovation. The research design employed was a qualitative study utilizing semi-structured interviews with 16 professionals who met the following criteria: male or female engineers, marketing managers, accounting managers, financial managers, and production/operational managers who were 25 years or older, with at least 5 years of on the job experience and a minimum of a high school diploma. Participants were drawn mostly from a population of 65 members of various manufacturing plants in Baltimore, Maryland.

The participants were interviewed, using a list of interview questions, and the resulting data were extracted and analyzed to provide answers to each of the research sub questions listed in the next section. This enabled the researcher to gain a clear understanding of whether or not organizational capital investment impacts employee innovation in the manufacturing industry. Therefore, the purpose of the investigation was to fill the gap in the literature and ascertain the impacts of organizational capital investment on employee innovation in the manufacturing industry.

Research Questions

The overall research question used to guide this study was: Does organizational capital investment impact employee innovation in the manufacturing industry? It should, however, be noted that the data collected from the research sub questions (RSQs) were analyzed to address and provide answer to the overall research question (Booth et al., 2005; Creswell, 2007; Richards & Morse, 2007). This concept is called triangulation (Creswell, 2007).

The RSQs considered in the study were as follows:

RSQ1: What are the most important factors that are favorable for employee innovation?

RSQ2: What are the most critical elements of organizational capital investment?

RSQ3: Are there any managing challenges regarding capital investment and employee innovation?

Limitations of the Study

The study had certain limitations that were out of the researcher’s control. They were as follows:

• There was a time constraint in which the researcher needed to complete the dissertation research.

• There was a financial constraint in completing the dissertation research.

• The researcher had no control over the responses the participants provided to the interview questions.

• The study was limited to one firm, making it hard to generalize the results.

Delimitations of the Study

Delimitations refer to conditions over which the researcher has control and uses to set the boundaries of the study. They were as follows:

• A sample of 16 professional engineers and ma...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Abstract
• Acknowledgements
• Dedication
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• References
• Appendices
• Appendix A
• Appendix B