Transformation process meets innovation leadership—an analysis of new challenges in change theory

Abstract The continuous changes in the business environment require transformation processes and innovation in organizational structures to maintain competitiveness. Innovation is required for future orientation and need an appropriate leadership style to be implemented in the company successfully. Various studies in the literature examine the topic of change models and the requirements for effective implementation of changes. Based on the constant change in the labor market, which is due to ongoing digitalization, the need for research of transformation, change-management and radical or disruptive innovation remains topical. A new challenge arises with a transformation in the entire company which affects all essential business processes. Because several levels are simultaneously affected by the transformation process, a more complex concept is required for the implementation than it could be found in the literature. There is a lack of empirical research in general for innovation-driven transformation processes and a missing connection to the implementation of radical or disruptive innovation in company. The aim of this paper is to investigate the need for new research in change theory. The focus is on the importance of innovation leadership for a radical or disruptive innovation change process, what is to be classified under a comprehensive transformation process in the company. In addition, the need for an innovation transformation model is established.