Abstract

Innovation is often considered the lifeblood of the 21st century business enterprise. However, many organizations struggle to best position their human resources to innovate and drive change within the culture. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experience of organizational innovation among extroverted intuitive perceiving (ENXP) entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. The study explored how ENXPs experience observing, experimenting, networking, questioning and associating when innovating, and how ENXP entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs have applied innovation practices to their business. For this purpose, the researcher conducted individual interviews with 12 participants of the ENXP (ENFP and ENTP) Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) type. The researcher developed and used 7 open-ended interview questions based on the 3 foundational research questions. The interview data was collected and analyzed and the findings revealed that ENXPs experience innovation through the MBTI functions of extraversion, intuition and perceiving. An analysis also revealed that ENXPs have a strong propensity towards the 5 innovation behaviors of observing, experimenting, networking, questioning, and associating. The findings included valuable insight into the impact of people on the innovation process, the experience of learning and synthesizing information to innovate, the impact of spontaneous living on organizational innovation, innovation initiated and developed using each of the 5 behaviors, the important role of questioning in the innovation process, the importance of partnering with a team, and the ENXP entrepreneur and intrapreneur focus on external improvement. The knowledge acquired is critical to organizational innovation and yields lessons that can be used to transform how individual contributors are leveraged within organizations.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Dissertations (EdD) -- Organizational leadership; Extraversion; Businesspeople -- Psychology -- Case studies; Organizational effectiveness -- Case studies

Date of Award

2017

School Affiliation

Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Department/Program

Education

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate

Faculty Advisor

Hamilton, Eric R.;

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