Innovation and occupational cultures : the role of identifying working styles

![CDATA[There has been substantial academic interest surrounding innovation and the individual attributes that comprise and promote innovative behaviour. The current study uses the Instinctive Drives System as a way of measuring innate working styles in 3,943 managers from a range of international companies These managers were then classified into three groups following Schein’s (1996) classification of occupational roles The three groups were Engineer, Operator and Executive The results of this study suggest that there are significant differences between the drives of executives and other occupational roles The most pertinent of these differences suggest that executives are more inclined towards variety and flexibility rather than routine and structure, and that executives were more inclined to prefer innovative, dynamic environments as opposed to operators and engineers who demonstrated a preference for logic and certainty These results have a range of implications, for both researchers and practitioners alike. Researchers can extend the results of this study, and further explore the differences found between executives and other managers. Practitioners will also be able to use the results to assist in the development of more effective ways to measure working styles and utilise these measurements to improve workplace productivity and efficiency.]]