Perceptions of innovativeness among Iranian hotel managers

Purpose – Despite the undisputed importance of organizational innovation and decades of academic research on the subject, there is surprisingly little agreement on what innovativeness is or how to achieve successful innovation in practice. Furthermore, the difference between the theory and practice is often interpreted in an ad hoc manner, which limits the potential for innovation to provide a competitive advantage. This research aims to explore perceptions of innovativeness from the perspective of senior managers in the hotel industry from a sample of 11 high-class hotels located in the developing country of Iran. Design/methodology/approach – A stratified purposeful sampling method will be employed, in which in-depth interviews with top managers and owners will be carried out over a five-month period. Meaning units (MUs) will be extracted, which are compared and discussed with the interviewees until a basic agreement of terms can be made. Findings – The findings relate to themes such as Leavitt’s diamond of task, structure, people and technology, with technology featuring quite strongly in a number of responses. It reflects how top managers and owners perceive that innovativeness can gain a competitive advantage by differentiating one hotel from another; and the role of national culture in developing that advantage. There are implications that a strong relationship with government and local business stakeholders could underpin innovativeness at local and regional level.