The Stigma of Failure in Organizations1

Authors

  • Geraldo Ferrer Naval Postgraduate School
  • Nicholas Dew Graduate School of Business and Public Policy - Naval Postgraduate School

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12660/joscmv3n1p15-33

Keywords:

Corporate entrepreneurship, process improvement, conceptual model

Abstract

Organizations with exceptional operational performance have generally achieved this status through management's diligence encouraging the workforce to innovate. The use of suggestion boxes to collect process improvement suggestions from the workforce is one such example, but they are not always successful. Some organizations do a good job collecting great ideas from their workers, both staff and managers, while others see little result from their efforts. This paper presents a formal model of the (dis)incentives for entrepreneurial behavior in organizations. The model extends research on the stigma of failure into organizations by examining the implications of more conservative and more experimental organizational cultures on the incentives for entrepreneurial action by the corporate-funded employee. The models explain how a forgiving organization that is willing to accept failure as well as success will lead to more product and process innovation. Contrariwise, it explains how a bureaucratic organization will rarely innovate because of its low tolerance for unsuccessful ventures.

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Published

2010-06-30

Issue

Section

07.Project Management