Small businesses in the new creative industries: innovation as a people management challenge

Purpose – This paper seeks to present findings from an SME case study situated in the computer games industry, the youngest and fastest growing of the new digital industries. The study aims to examine changing people management practices as the case company undergoes industry‐typical strategic change to embark on explorative innovation and it seeks to argue that maintaining an organisational context conducive to innovation over time risks turning into a contest between management and employees, as both parties interpret organisational pressures from their different perspectives.Design/methodology/approach – A single case study design is used as the appropriate methodology to generate in‐depth qualitative data from multiple organisational member perspectives.Findings – Findings indicate that management and worker perspectives on innovation as strategic change and the central people management practices required to support this differ significantly, resulting in tensions and organisational strain. As the co...

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