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The purpose of this paper is to investigate what kind of leadership young innovative people prefer and whether their level of innovativeness has an influence on those leadership preferences. It also asks specifically whether some leadership behaviours are preferred over others by young innovators, by comparing that group’s preferences to those of the majority of young people and an outlier group labelled laggards. Leadership preferences are studied in the context of transformational leadership covering transformational leadership, transactional leadership (including passive and active management by exception), rewarding, laissez-faire and authoritative leadership styles.

In total, 297 Finnish university students completed a voluntary leadership behaviour questionnaire and an innovativeness scale. A non-parametric independent samples median test was run to determine if there were differences in the leadership preference score between the innovativeness level groups.

Results indicate that the level of innovativeness influences leadership preferences. Receiving intellectual stimulation from their leader is more important to young innovators than it is to their peers but the former are also less comfortable with active management by exception.

Young innovators leadership preferences have not been studied. Harnessing the full power of this important talent pool is central to the future competitiveness of organizations and nations. This study intends to prompt discussion and studies on how to lead young innovators given their preferences.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between adaptive behaviour and innovative behaviour of individuals according to Kirton adaptation-innovation (KAI) model and determine how these differences impact entrepreneurial potential dimensions. Research sample consisted of student population from three countries: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (EU candidate countries) and Belgium (EU country). Research results will be valuable for the development of entrepreneurship in EU candidate countries. Data were collected from a sample of 1,008 university students from these three countries. KAI inventory, questionnaire on entrepreneurial traits (QET) and the scale of entrepreneurial potential (SEP) were used to obtain data. The canonical discriminant analysis determined differences and structure of differences between the adaptive and innovative persons, described by KAI model and their scores on the dimensions of the entrepreneurial traits model, as well as on entrepreneurial potential model.

In this study, the first research question concentrates on the existence of differences among students from Bosnia, Serbia and Belgium with regard to the dominant style of problem-solving according to KAI model to determine whether students from EU countries and non-EU countries differ in regard to problem-solving style. Second research question is the existence of differences in the development of entrepreneurial potential by EQT and SEP among student adaptors and student innovators according to KAI model to investigate to what extent the dominant style of solving problem contributes to differences in the development of entrepreneurial potential among students.

The research has confirmed the existence of significant differences between the adaptors and innovators described by the KAI model in terms of developed characteristics of entrepreneurial potential in the student population. Results of the research prove that young innovators possess to a greater extent developed key characteristics important for entrepreneurship, as well as intellectual and organizational skills, motivational factors and social capacity, self-confidence and constitutional factors. This research also revealed key differences among students with regard to the country of origin.

The practical implications of the research are reflected in the creation of the initial guidelines and structural support for the promotion of entrepreneurial potential in young people, where it can be concluded that it is particularly important to encourage innovation and creative approach to problem-solving, but also awareness of young individuals and development of their knowledge of entrepreneurship.

The main objective of this research was the examination of differences between students who belong to the category of adaptors and students innovators according to the KAI model (Kirton, 1976, 1998, 2003), with regard to the researched dimensions of entrepreneurial potential, to explicitly as possible identify differences in personal characteristics of young people who are predisposed for entrepreneurship and those who are not. Young innovators and adaptors significantly differ according to the researched dimensions of the EQT and SEP models of entrepreneurial potential and young innovators possess more developed entrepreneurial potential than adaptors.

Examines the characteristics of young innovators (i.e. those in a group who accept the innovation first, for instance a hula hoop, a mobile phone or a video game) and opinion leaders (i.e. the person in a group who tends to be copied or consulted for advice); the two roles overlap, as child innovators are usually also opinion leaders, but not necessarily the reverse. Explains the Diffusion of Innovations theory, relating it to the adoption by children of new products and behaviours, i.e. their socialisation as consumers; this process involves the stages of awareness, interest, evaluation, test purchase, and adoption. Outlines the characters involved in the generalised theory of Diffusion of Innovations: opinion leaders, innovators, gatekeepers (for instance parents who allow their children to acquire a new product), and change agents (an outsider who gives advice, for instance a teacher). Discusses whether there are generalised innovators and opinion leaders, i.e. whether the same people tend to fulfil these roles in all or most areas. Moves onto a 2003 study of children which surveyed how well the Diffusion of Innovations theory fits them, how much overlap there was among innovators and opinion leaders, and where children got information about new products. Concludes that the Diffusion of Innovations theory does roughly fit child and teenage behaviour; in the adoption process, personal communication plays a dominant role, followed by television and advertising, but mobile phone and SMS messages played almost no role among eight to 12‐year‐olds in communicating information on new products.

This research study assessed the mindset of individuals regarding their perception of innovation as a means for successful product or process improvement and their perception of thought processes that underpin innovative practices. It investigated the attitudinal foundation for the development of training, development and assessment of structured innovation methodologies.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative research gathered through an anonymous survey designed to explore the basic understanding of innovation and included open-ended questions supported more integrated perceptions of innovation in the sampled population's own experiences. The participants of the survey and research were drawn from the public, but it focused more specifically on demographic groups known for their interest in innovation, either as practitioners or teachers.

The results found, overwhelmingly, survey participants believed innovation is a skill; however, they also believed, inconsistently, that innovation itself is an unpredictable, unstructured and unsystematic process.

At a practical level, exploring the propensity for individuals or groups to believe defined innovation practices can be effective and that these practices can be learned, measured and improved drives the overall effectiveness of training and organizational leadership. With research, we can make training professionals aware that the mindset of potential innovators is to favor a belief in brainstorming and random success. Doing so can significantly impact the preparation of training and development programs for developing structured innovation capabilities.

Training a new generation of innovators, especially young children, requires care so that they internalize the right mindset and the right tool strategy to be the best innovators possible.

The impact of knowledge management on the financial success of companies has not yet been properly researched. This paper aims to make a contribution by examining the relationship between sustainable sales growth and knowledge management activities in 108 Finnish small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

Data were generated from a questionnaire survey of 108 SMEs from different fields and thematic interviews with ten companies.

Higher levels of KM‐maturity were found to correlate positively with long‐term sustainable growth. Although Finnish SMEs display a surprisingly high awareness about KM, only a minor proportion of the sample firms has been able to benefit in terms of growth from their KM‐related activities. The results have implications for policy formulation in the field of SMEs, since half the Finnish SMEs in the sample do not grow. We found that the fast‐growing companies with high KM‐maturity are applying KM‐related activities in a comprehensive and balanced way, thereby raising question marks around the effectiveness of eclectic “KM implementations”.

This research was carried out in only one country and the results cannot be generalised. Furthermore, this study does not provide any information concerning the causal relationship of knowledge management and SME performance. Therefore, further studies in the field are needed.

The results from this study also suggest that SMEs might be able to shift into higher growth by applying a comprehensive KM‐approach incorporating all intangible assets equally.

This study provides new information concerning the relationship between knowledge management and small business performance.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between young consumers' innovativeness and their hedonic/utilitarian attitudes toward cool clothing and to examine the moderating role of income on this relationship. This study uses five cool factors (singular cool, personal cool, aesthetic cool, functional cool and quality cool) under the hedonic and utilitarian cool dimensions to test the hypotheses.

Using a web-based survey, 265 responses were used for analysis. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the measurement scales. Single-group SEM and multiple-group SEM were performed to examine the hypothesized relationships.

Innovative young consumers tend to have stronger hedonic cool attitude toward clothing than non-innovative young consumers. In contrast, innovativeness and utilitarian values of cool products are not interrelated for young consumers. Innovative, high-income young consumes have a tendency to purchase cool products to reflect their personality, individuality, and self-identity.

This study has limitations for future research with regard to the generalization of the findings because this study focused on a sample of college students.

This study will provide some valuable information about young consumers' purchasing behaviours toward cool products for commercial marketers.

This study provides an initial contribution to the literature on the relationships between young consumers' hedonic/utilitarian attitudes and their innovativeness and income levels.

The purposes of this research were to compare the attitudes about new food purchases between innovators/early adopters and non‐innovators, and to determine the food purchase characteristics of innovators/early adopters and non‐innovators. Data were collected in ten locations in India between November 1999 and February 2000. Including income as a covariate, MANCOVA was performed to determine how innovators/early adopters and non‐innovators differed in their attitudes about new food purchases. The findings revealed some important characteristics of food innovators/early adopters: they tend to be opinion leaders, seek variety in food types and brands, and are more responsive to sales promotions and advertisements. Food prices are relatively important to both consumer groups. Marketing implications for food businesses are discussed.

Superintendents’ agency in the US is shaped by governance systems within education systems. These Education Governance Systems have been in a state of flux and experienced turbulence for twenty years. The professional challenge this research addresses is how do 14 credentialed educational professional African American women superintendents with doctorates and track records of school improvement, navigate the turbulence to empower families, and Empower Young Societal Innovators for Equity, Renewal (EYSIER), Social Mobility, and Peace.

This chapter identifies three aspects of a theory of knowledge to action to emerge from the empirical evidence presented. First, African American women superintendents need to know how to access policy and legislation, how to stay up to date with policy and need to be empowered to challenge policy. Policy has the back of African American women fighting institutionalised racism. Second, African American women superintendents need role models, and mentors with wisdom who can create proactive and mobilising networks across the state and the nation to advocate for and to support the teachers’ and leaders’ professional learning to be the best teachers, leaders and superintendents they can be. Finally, the African American women superintendents who have been self-selecting, or identified as potential future superintendents by current superintendents and schoolboards, need to be part of succession planning that transcends the short elected lives of district school boards. Newly incumbent African American women superintendents need to be empowered by Education Governance Systems to enable them to deliver on their manifestos and track records of outstanding school improvement with the impact strategies they were employed to implement. The impact strategies include promoting high-quality home–school engagement and ensuring all students learn how to learn, are culturally sensitive, ask good questions and solve problems as Young Societal Innovators for Equity and Renewal. The chapter recommends a network of African American women superintendents implements this theory of knowledge to action and that their work is documented, and if successful in optimising students’ learning, and outcomes, disseminated to build capacity for EYSIER.

The aim of this book is to set an agenda and address a gap in the literature regarding Turbulence, Empowerment and Marginalisation in International Education Governance Systems and its relationship with narrowing the global phenomena of a Black-White achievement gap.

The aims are met by addressing the following quesitions. First, how do senior leaders of Educational Governance Systems who are from and represent marginalised groups in society, describe and understand how School Governance Systems empower or disempower them to develop school communities as societal innovators for equity, and renewal? Second, how do these senior-level leaders within Education Governance Systems describe and understand the role mentors and/or advocates play to support their navigation through the turbulence? Third, to what extent, do these senior-level leaders of Education Governance Systems believe a cultural change is required to empower them in school and college communities including staff, families, students and community partnerships to Empower Young Societal Innovators for Equity and Renewal (EYSIER)? Finally, what theories of knowledge to action emerge regarding how these senior-level leaders might successfully navigate turbulence to empower marginalised groups for equity and renewal for all in Public Corporate Education Governance Systems?

We identified in Chapter 1 that the context is one of colonisation between different groups. In Chapter 2, The review of literature focused on turbulence in Education Governance Systems and identified the global distribution of knowledge concerning education from cash-rich countries has had a tremendous impact on what is taught and tested in schools. Nation states that are not cash rich are marginalised in a global politics. International Testing Industries examine the output of national education systems through a global lens. These studies do not shed light on: the socio-economic, or political context that shape the values, primary moral virtues and secondary intellectual virtues and acts of particular legislation; the fair funding formulas that underpin the allocation of funds to the construction of infrastructure; the Education Governance Systems structures and agencies; and the organisation of processes and practices of the education system within the international community. Intellectual and cultural colonisation that may lack what Adler calls moral and ethical frameworks may accelerate the commodification of education. Chapter 3 critically discussed how we implemented the same research design in each case taking a humanistic approach and identified that the research adopts a shared world view and seeks to recognise scientific, intellectual knowledge, and metaphysical moral and empirical knowledge. Chapters 4 through 9 presented the English, Northern Irish, Arab-Israeli, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States cases, and each case identified a clash of values between the professional educational credentialed senior-level leaders with track records for outstanding school improvement, and those in Educational Governance Systems with: no professional credentials; no track record of school improvement; a tendency to promote competition rather than cooperation; a desire for internal succession planning, rather than succession planning to achieve national education goals. The clash of cultures put senior-level leaders into a mode of protectionism with a focus on keeping their post and ‘watching their backs’, rather than building capacity for sustainable instruction within the Education Governance Systems they lead manage and administrate to optimise students’ learning, students’ outcomes and social mobility.

These senior-level leaders with Professional Credentials, and outstanding track records of school improvement need Education Governance Systems to empower them to do their job and create realistic opportunities to develop networks of professional experts in partnership with the academy to support them navigate any clash of world views. Funding is required for professional learning to ensure ‘old opinion is handed down among them by ancient tradition’ that is rationalised with logic, compared and contrasted with empirical evidence, and synthesised with innovations guided by a moral compass within an ethical infrastructure. These senior-level leaders need to be empowered to empower their staff as autonomous professionals to empower the parents and the students to gain the thinking tools they need to be lifelong learners with the capability to be self-legislating. This requires a culture change that prioritises the moral virtues of learning how to learn as moral citizens in becoming, above the secondary intellectual virtues demonstrated through success in high stakes tests.

Knowledge to action reveals young people need Education Governance Systems that EYSIER and underpin success in student outcomes for social mobility. Success in both these spheres will enable them to break their chains that have kept them dependent on the guidance of others who may seek to exploit them (De Gruy, 2008).

Further research is recommended to implement the knowledge to action impact strategies that emerge from all five cases.