This book chapter was published in 2019

Roodt, J. H. (2019). Racing Ahead With Innovation: The Case for Hybrid Models and Ethical Decisions. In V. G.-P. Diaz & J. P. Z. Bonilla (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Industrial Advancement in Scientific Knowledge (pp. 112-134): IGI Global.

Racing Ahead with Innovation: The Case for Anticipatory Models and Ethical Decisions

Jan Hendrik Roodt

Waikato Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Abstract 

Massive societal change will result from the rate of technology advancement, and in many cases, this change will be continuous, and the pace will increase.  The enterprise will face operational and technical challenges, and society will increasingly expect the highest ethical conduct.   What strategy will allow the organisation to remain innovative and thrive in these circumstances?

To develop new insight, anticipatory skills and better decision making,  a case is made for the adoption of model building and simulation.  In addition to the benefits of shared conceptual artefacts for communicating about the enterprise, modelling requires a deep understanding of the ethics and reflexivity needed to deal with complex issues, and using a transdisciplinary framework for inquiry may increase the richness of understanding.

For innovation to emerge, participatory and co-creative approaches for sense-making are proposed to shift the responsibility for ethical decisions to more actors in the enterprise.

This approach allows leaders to engage with the informal coalitions in the enterprise and shape the required strategic direction.