General management of innovation: lessons from the Shaker community
Purpose The purpose of this study is to employ the concepts of the general management of innovation to help explain the extraordinary inventiveness of the Shaker religious community.Design/methodology/approach Utilizing historical accounts of Shaker philosophy and practice, the paper examines Shaker innovativeness through the lens of the general management of innovation in order to develop a historical interpretation of innovation within the Shaker community.Findings It was demonstrated that Shaker society possessed a large number of the organizational characteristics, management practices, and values, which have subsequently been found to be positively related to innovative behaviors in modern institutions.Research limitations/implications Future research should examine in even greater depth specific values, structure, and practices of Shaker communities as well as focusing on key concepts in other fields such as product, operations, or R&D management to yield additional insights into the managem.