Samenvatting

Over the years the industrial production was transformed by steam power in the 19th century, by electricity in the early 20th century, and by automation in the 1970s (Lorenz, et al., 2015). Today’s society is on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution, the Smart Industry. The impact of the Smart Industry will change the economy and the labor market drastically (Vermeend, 2014). Companies that do not respond to this development on time run the risk to not survive (Vermeend, 2014). Over the years it has been proven that innovation is broadly claimed to have beneficial influences on the effectiveness and long-term survival of organisations (Kanter, 1988). Hence, innovation is seen as the primary challenge for today’s organisations (Volberda, Jansen, Tempelaar, Heij, 2011).
The transition into the new Smart Industry era causes drastic changes which have consequences for businesses, as well as for employees. Companies need to respond through innovation in order to survive, but the question is how? This exploratory research examines how innovative technicians can contribute to the Smart Industry by creating individual innovation within companies. Thereby it is examined what innovative technicians need, in terms of decisive competencies and work context factors, to create this individual innovation. Through research, the obstacles experiences during the job on a technician 's way to individual innovation are also examined.
This study took place within the technical sector, because the research is exploratory, wherein the objectives are to identify which decisive competencies innovative technicians possess. Moreover, this research also examines what an innovative technician needs from his environment and which obstacles innovative technicians experience on the job, on their way to create innovation. In this research a total of 21 participants were involved, who can be divided into two groups namely innovative technician (n=11) and supervisor of the innovative technician (n=10).
The results conclude, that innovative technicians possess attitude competencies which they use to initiate their idea and skills competencies to realise to convert it into action. Moreover, innovative technicians require the feeling that they are free in in their work and they must be challenged in their work environment in order to show innovative behaviour. Besides, the obstacles which innovative technicians experience on their job lie in particular in the field of resistance among colleagues and delays which arise from the organisational context.
It can be concluded that the innovative technician must possess a strong attitude, which is reflected in their competencies, to initiate their innovative ideas and convert them into action by taking the initiative. For the eventual transformation the technician needs to possess skills to ensure a high-quality end product. Throughout this process, the innovative technicians must experience autonomy in their work, and moreover they must experience a challenging work environment. The supervisor must support the innovative technicians through his way of leadership by providing them herein. The success of ultimate realisation of the innovation depends on how the innovative technician deals with the obstacles which occur along the way.
The recommendations are directed at the three clients of this study. The first part of the recommendations are directed to organisations within the technical sector, followed by a concrete example. Next, a manifest is proposed which is directed to innovative technicians and call for a rebellion. The last one is a recommendation to conduct a follow-up research.