The Psychology of Innovation in Organizations

David H. Cropley is Associate Professor of Engineering Innovation at the University of South Australia. His publications include Creativity and Crime: A Psychological Analysis (with Arthur J. Cropley), The Dark Side of Creativity (with Arthur J. Cropley, James C. Kaufman and Mark A. Runco), and Creativity in Engineering: Novel Solutions to Complex Problems. Arthur J. Cropley is Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Hamburg. He was the founding editor of the European Journal of High Ability (currently known as High Ability Studies), and he is the author or editor of twenty-eight books, which have been widely translated.

• 1. Understanding innovation: a reorientation; Part I. Basic Concepts: 2. Products: what does innovation lead to?; 3. Process: how are innovative ideas formed?; 4. Person: the personal resources that support innovation; 5. Press: where the innovation happens?; Part II. Managing Innovation: 6. Paradox: the contradictions of innovation; 7. Measuring the building blocks of innovation; 8. Innovation and organizational performance; 9. Managing the paradoxes of innovation; 10. General conclusions.

'While the first part of this carefully researched and well-written book focuses on the basic building blocks of innovation, the second part shows in detailed yet practical terms how to measure aspects of your organization to marshal them for innovation. Logical and useful, this work provides resources for managers and educators alike. Great discussion of the paradoxes of innovation and good reviews of assessment measures set the stage for the introduction of the authors' comprehensive innovation assessment measure, the IPAI. Using a systems approach, these accomplished authors overcome the failures of previous methods by addressing each aspect in context, not as a static, isolated element of the process. Bravo!' Susan P. Besemer, PhD