Exploring Strategies for Measuring Team Innovation in Small Financial Business

Small financial business leaders cannot maintain a competitive advantage without effectively measuring work team innovation. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to explore the strategies that small financial business leaders use to measure work team innovation to maintain a competitive advantage. The conceptual framework undergirding this study was Schumpeter’s innovation management theory. The research question asked what strategies small financial business leaders use to effectively measure work team innovation to maintain a competitive advantage. Interview data were collected from 15 small financial business leaders who employ less than 100 employees in Madison, Chester, Gibson, Henderson, and Crockett counties in west Tennessee and are members of a local Chamber of Commerce. Data analysis used descriptive coding method. The findings showed that small financial business leaders understand the importance of using innovation appropriately in their organization to maximize organizational performance on the work team level. Small financial business leaders acknowledged the effect COVID-19 had on the work environment and that the focus of their organization should be on the customers’ needs over the needs of their organization. This study’s positive social change implications could be that small financial businesses that use innovation appropriately in their organization might increase customer satisfaction and increase organizational success.