Organizational innovation: a systemic approach

ABSTRACT

Since, Vilfredo Pareto formulated what later became Pareto’s principle (also referred to as the 80/20 or 90/10 principle, see Koch [2008. The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less. New York: Doubleday] and Kiyosaki [2011. Rich Dad's Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest In, That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!. Jackson: Perseus Distribution] for example), which emphasizes the importance of empowering innovation not by improving the new just for the new’s sake but by reducing obsolescence. For example, some studies (Pitasi, A., & Ferone, E. (2008). Il tempo zero del desiderio. Milano: McGraw-Hill) have shown that a Roger’s innovation cycle (R) can improve its speed (S) by cutting Williamson’s transactional costs (W) as much as possible, i.e. S = R/W. This paper focuses on a three-level analysis of the evolution of Pareto’s principle up to its ‘less is more’ version. Micro-level: It consists of dyads and/or small groups and requires a psycho-social approach, which is more micro than micro. Meso-level: It relies on middle-range studies and encompasses mainly single, specific organizations; it requires theoretical tools such as R. Macro-level: The objects in this level are national/supranational political and economic organizational notions such as Kuznets’ ccle or Schumpeter’s cycle. The sections of this paper are structured top-down, from macro to psycho-social, according to Elias’ (2010. The Civilizing Process: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations. Hoboken: Blackwell Publisher) concept of process. The paper is based upon the assumption that openness to change is different at each level. The aim is twofold; on one hand, the goal is to provide a better comprehension of organizational change phenomena and on the other, we aimed to develop a social practical capability to overcome the hurdles that can stop or slow down innovation processes.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• organization
• information
• macro-meso-micro-level
• less is more

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

* Attributions

Paragraphs 1 and 5: Emilia Ferone

Paragraph 2: Sara Petroccia

Paragraph 3: Davide Pietroni

Paragraph 4: Angel Antonio Alberto

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emilia Ferone

Emilia Ferone, Ph.D., Research Fellow at D’Annunzio University, Chieti- Pescara, Italy. Vice president of the WCSA – World Complexity Science Academy. Scientific Director of book series Political, Juridical and Social Sciences edited by Esculapio, Italy. She is the author of numerous national and international scientific publications, among them: Academic Capitalism in the European University, in Fabó E., Ferone E., Ming J. C. (eds), Systemic Actions in Complex Scenarios, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge 2017; With Stuppia L., Pitasi A., Manzoli L., Ruzzeddu M., The Infector Stigma: Centralizing Health Policies in an Age of Global Migration Flows, in Hassan Qudrat-Ullah Peter Tsasis (Eds.) Innovative Healthcare Systems for the 21st Century, pp. 141–166, Springer, 2017; Regole e Comunicazione del Capitalismo Accademico, Loffredo, Napoli 2013.

Davide Pietroni

Davide Pietroni is Tenured Researcher at D'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara where he teaches Organizational Psychology. He is a trainer and a consultant in suggestive communication, organizational influence and nudging, empowerment, and emotional and strategic conflict management for public and private organizations. He leads research projects with the University of Amsterdam and the Max Planck Institute of Berlin and his scientific contributions are published in various national and international journals. Along with Rino Rumiati, he coauthored four books on the cognitive science perspective on negotiation dynamics.

Sara Petroccia

Sara Petroccia, Ph.D. Research Fellow at D’Annunzio University, Chieti- Pescara, Italy. Visiting instructor and recruiter partner in several of Iacocca Institute Programs, Lehigh University, PA – U.S.A., since 2011. Vice-president of World Complexity Science Academy and Eurocitizen President. Globalization, Multiculturalism, International Migration, Citizenship and Identity are the core of her research activity. She works as Consultant for several Public and private organization. Website: https://about.me/SaraPetroccia

Angel Antonio Alberto

Ángel Antonio Alberto is an adjunct professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos (UADER) and at the Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA). He is an Executive Board Member of de World Complexity Science Academy (WCSA). Public accountant at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (UNR) He served as a Delegate of the Young Entrepreneurs of the Entre Rios Province before the Argentinian Federation of Young Entrepreneurs (FEDAJE) (2009–2011). In August 2018 became ‘Profesor Universitario para el Nivel Superior’ at the Universidad Abierta Interamericana (UAI). He is the author of the book in systemic management and entrepreneurship analysis focused on an Argentinian case of excellence titled ‘Orgullo y Exito.’