Cultural limits to innovation in New Zealand

Abstract

In a world that has moved swiftly to global trade, innovation rates have become one of the tools by which nations and businesses achieve success in the world. In many cases countries, businesses and organizations have an ‘innovation imperative’ in which innovation is deemed necessary for both growth and survival. These imperatives are paralleled by government policies, which seek to encourage innovation in order to achieve economic and other goals (e.g. Oram 2001; OECD 2005). In contributing to knowledge about innovation, researchers have contended that culture is a significant factor influencing national rates of innovation (e.g. Nakata and Sivakumar 1996; Shane 1992; Shane 1993). Understanding culture is, therefore, becoming increasingly important in efforts to support innovation. We utilized discourse analysis and cultural consensus analysis to build models of New Zealand culture, national identity and innovation identity in order to gain insights into the wider social context in which New Zealand innovation is situated. In this way New Zealand’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to innovation can be identified.