CONNECTING APPROACHES OF INNOVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IN BUSINESS COMPANIES

Throughout the present paper we discuss the relationship of organizational change and innovation within business companies. Within the first section of the paper we review the main features of the organizational change concept and we emphasize the source for the need of organizational change. Throughout the second part of the paper we present the managerial issues related to coordinating organizational change. Thus we discuss from managerial point of view the importance to acknowledge the effects of change and the necessary actions for each stage of the change process. Considering nowadays turbulent environment, managers worldwide have reached the conclusion that the success of their companies depends to a great extent directly to their management of change. The content of the third section is allocated to presenting the role of innovation within companies. We discuss about the implications of innovation at a micro level, within companies, and also at a macro level, within the knowledge-based economy, related to which is considered as a pillar. In this context, the elaboration and implementation of the right strategy, whether based on organizational change or organizational innovation, depends mainly on the leader’s managerial skills. In conclusion, we argue that innovation and change are interdependent and form a dynamic relationship which makes it difficult to argue which of them generates the other. Throughout this work we emphasize that management of change and innovation within organizations should consider the managerial approach of people, resources and processes.