University of Twente Student Theses
The role of leadership at the implementation of innovations at the Netherlands fire service
Kielstra, J.W.M.V. (2016) The role of leadership at the implementation of innovations at the Netherlands fire service.
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| Abstract: | The implementation of innovations is often a difficult task for many organizations. According to the theory innovation can be seen as a process and it is found that the most critical point is the transition between idea generation and implementation. This is also the case for the Netherlands Fire Service, which is a public organization with bureaucratic characteristics. Leadership can play a crucial role by enhancing the transition. They can enhance this by possessing some specific behavior types and there are some leadership behaviors which enhance the different phases of this process. Besides leadership behaviors, leaders may adopt a specific role which fosters the process. Therefore, this study investigates what the best leadership behaviors are to support the implementation of innovations at the Netherlands Fire Service. This study uses semi-structured interviews, secondary data and documentation analysis to investigate which leadership behaviors support the implementation of innovations at the Netherlands Fire Service. This study showed that open mindedness, organizing feedback, providing autonomy, raising expectations, building trustful relationships and providing network are appropriate leadership behaviors during the idea generation phase. For the implementation it is essential that leaders provide autonomy, support and stimulate innovation, provide resources and promote the idea/lobby. This research provides new theoretical insights into how leadership behavior can support the implementation in one specific context. The practical value is that leaders at the Netherlands Fire Service can use the results for improving their behavior on the work floor and enhance the implementation of innovations. Future studies should focus on leadership to make the results more valid. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 85 business administration, organizational science |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/70860 |
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