Les innovateurs du quotidien. L'innovation dans les entreprises

The article by Norbert Alter discusses the process of innovation within firms. He shows how basically, in contrast to the traditional model in which the senior management decrees changes that are not fully supported by those who have to implement them, change in fact happens from the bottom up, from the “everyday innovators”, and then spreads with varying degrees of success to the rest of the firm. In other words, Alter challenges the widely held view that it is senior managers or experts who decide the best way to make innovations and get them accepted. He stresses that, on the contrary, if an innovation is to be truly effective, it must come from the workforce, from a “constellation of ordinary actions”, and be collectively accepted.
In effect attacking a static vision based on organizational models, Alter then argues that the dynamics of a firm results in constant change as new ideas are translated into practice, whether as simple alternatives or an approach so different that it upsets the firm’s normal modus operandi; when this change is generally supported by the workforce, it will gradually spread through the whole firm and bring about a permanent transformation within the organization.
Norbert Alter goes on to describe the profile of these “everyday innovators” and the conditions necessary for them to make their actions effective; their efforts are the key factor in achieving the changes required in products, the production process and organization. Along the way, he outlines a typology of such actors who in varying degrees provide the driving force or act as critical relays in spreading the new practices. The studies on which he bases his arguments thus show that changes are not handed down from on high but are much more the result of a constant process, generated by people at all levels; even when these changes are disturbing, firms should encourage them rather than try to neutralize them by imposing organizational models that are not generally accepted by the workforce.