Self-Sustaining Innovation Through Intrinsic Motivation

The literature supports the view that the employees, who are empowered, self-determined and intrinsically motivated, have a greater degree of innovativeness. However, there is a gap between theoretical issues and practical recommendations regarding the organizational design aimed at accomplishing self-sustaining innovation through behavior-based management. Using case-study method the authors analyze the 20-years experience of successful sustainable innovation practice of the Regional Management Center providing educational, training and consulting services in the Russian educational market. The findings state that the sources of motivation to innovate should be inherent to employee and to organization. This can be realized through mechanisms of individual tension, knowledge transfer and retention. The entry to the innovation environment should be free and “play rules” should be determined for the long term. This encourages the sustainable emergence of new leaders with entrepreneurship abilities, ambitious goals and drive for innovation. The case study discovered the shift from Product to Leader lifecycle management