%0 Journal Article %J Technology Innovation Management Review %D 2016 %T Why National Culture Should Be at the Heart of Innovation Management %A Tony Smale %K creativity %K implementation %K initiation %K innovation %K national culture %X Over a period of decades, a substantial body of knowledge has accumulated that correlates national culture and socially and economically important behaviour, including innovation practice. National culture is an interconnected web of mental models that is shared by national groups and transcends the individual. It is highly influential in moderating the cognition and behaviour of groups and individuals. Different resources, including cognition and behaviour, are required at the different stages of the innovation process, and the context, including national culture (within which innovation is practiced), is an important consideration in designing strategy. Because innovation is a psychological and social process, understanding how national culture moderates that cognition and behaviour within the different stages of the innovation process and how the wider innovation ecosystem impacts innovation practice is central to understanding, strategizing and managing the innovation process. However, there has been limited application of this knowledge by practitioners. Therefore, this article examines the importance of national culture from a practitioner perspective, distilling the managerial implications and providing a list of questions that serve as a checklist to enable practitioners to analyze the implications of their own national and organizational context. %B Technology Innovation Management Review %I Talent First Network %C Ottawa %V 6 %P 18-25 %8 04/2016 %G eng %U http://timreview.ca/article/978 %N 4 %1 Forté Management Tony Smale is a Principal Management Consultant with Forté Management, an independent thinking New Zealand business, consulting, coaching, and training practice. Tony began life as a laboratory scientist and manager. He holds an MBA from Henley Business School at the University of Reading, United Kingdom, and is accredited as an Economic Development Professional. Tony’s MBA dissertation was entitled The Impact of National Culture on New Zealand’s Innovation Outcomes. Since then, he has complemented that work by nearly a decade exposing and testing the arguments in the dissertation with innovation, management, and economic development professionals across many nations and especially working with them to explain and reconcile the dilemmas and conflicts that they encounter in their work and personal lives, both living and working in their home countries and especially as immigrants in foreign cultures. He is an experienced speaker and has completed a number of international engagements including at the UNFCCC, the OECD LEED Forum, and subsequently serving on an OECD Expert Panel. %R http://doi.org/10.22215/timreview/978