Leading for innovation : reevaluating leader influences on innovation with regard to innovation type and complexity

Few organizational efforts are as critical to long-term survival as innovation. Leaders play an integral role in facilitating innovative efforts at multiple levels and across multiple stages of the creative process. However, research about the interventions that leaders may engage in has not produced consistent results. It is proposed that these inconsistent findings are a result of innovation being treated as a single phenomenon rather than multiple constructs. In this study, we review several influences that leaders may have on the innovation process across multiple levels, the individual leader and the group and organizational levels, and evaluate them with regard to different types of innovation, product and process innovations and complex and simple innovations. Interventions evaluated include the expertise and creative problem-solving skills of the individual leader, diversity and mission definition at the group level, and the organization's structure and scanning and monitoring activity. Propositions are made for the effects of "leader influences" across the different types of innovation

Leading for innovation type and complexity

Few organizational efforts are as critical to long-term survival as innovation. Leaders play an integral role in facilitating innovative efforts at multiple levels and across multiple stages of the creative process. However, research about the interventions that leaders may engage in has not produced consistent results. It is proposed that these inconsistent findings are a result of innovation being treated as a single phenomenon rather than multiple constructs. In this study, we review several influences that leaders may have on the innovation process across multiple levels, the individual leader and the group and organizational levels, and evaluate them with regard to different types of innovation, product and process innovations and complex and simple innovations. Interventions evaluated include the expertise and creative problem-solving skills of the individual leader, diversity and mission definition at the group level, and the organization's structure and scanning and monitoring activity. Propositions are made for the effects of "leader influences" across the different types of innovation

Strategies in Forecasting Outcomes in Ethical Decision-Making: Identifying and Analyzing the Causes of the Problem

This study examined the role of key causal analysis strategies in forecasting and ethical decision-making. Undergraduate participants took on the role of the key actor in several ethical problems and were asked to identify and analyze the causes, forecast potential outcomes, and make a decision about each problem. Time pressure and analytic mindset were manipulated while participants worked through these problems. The results indicated that forecast quality was associated with decision ethicality, and the identification of the critical causes of the problem was associated with both higher quality forecasts and higher ethicality of decisions. Neither time pressure nor analytic mindset impacted forecasts or ethicality of decisions. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

Onset of Coagulation Function Recovery Is Delayed in Severely Injured Trauma Patients with Venous Thromboembolism

BackgroundAltered coagulation function after trauma can contribute to development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Severe trauma impairs coagulation function, but the trajectory for recovery is not known. We hypothesized that enhanced, early recovery of coagulation function increases VTE risk in severely injured trauma patients.Study designSecondary analysis was performed on data from the Pragmatic Randomized Optimal Platelet and Plasma Ratio (PROPPR) trial, excluding patients who died within 24 hours or were on pre-injury anticoagulants. Patient characteristics, adverse outcomes, and parameters of platelet function and coagulation (thromboelastography) were compared from admission to 72 hours between VTE (n = 83) and non-VTE (n = 475) patients. A p value < 0.05 indicates significance.ResultsDespite similar patient demographics, VTE patients exhibited hypercoagulable thromboelastography parameters and enhanced platelet function at admission (p < 0.05). Both groups exhibited hypocoagulable thromboelastography parameters, platelet dysfunction, and suppressed clot lysis (low clot lysis at 30 minutes) 2 hours after admission (p < 0.05). The VTE patients exhibited delayed coagulation recovery (a significant change compared with 2 hours) of K-value (48 vs 24 hours), α-angle (no recovery), maximum amplitude (24 vs 12 hours), and clot lysis at 30 minutes (48 vs 12 hours). Platelet function recovery mediated by arachidonic acid (72 vs 4 hours), ADP (72 vs 12 hours), and collagen (48 vs 12 hours) was delayed in VTE patients. The VTE patients had lower mortality (4% vs 13%; p < 0.05), but fewer hospital-free days (0 days [interquartile range 0 to 8 days] vs 10 days [interquartile range 0 to 20 days]; p < 0.05) and higher complication rates (p < 0.05).ConclusionsRecovery from platelet dysfunction and coagulopathy after severe trauma were delayed in VTE patients. Suppressed clot lysis and compensatory mechanisms associated with altered coagulation that can potentiate VTE formation require additional investigation