Integrating quality and innovation: the case of the Singapore Police Force

摘要

This paper reviews some theoretical linkages between quality and innovation and the way they could be applied and inter-applied. It then presents and examines a case study of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to illustrate how an organisation can operationalise the concurrent pursuit of quality and innovation, using these theoretical linkages as a reference frame. The case study of the SPF suggests that an organisational strategy is needed to integrate the two concepts coherently and relate them directly to bottom-line performance. There must be a systemic platform of organisational learning to create new knowledge and find paradigm shifts. An organisation can take a quality approach towards innovation and an innovation approach towards quality. Four conditions that are critical to the process of value creation are ecology, enablers, leadership, and rewards and recognition. Innovations may occur at strategic, operational or tactical levels. Quality and innovation, even while concurrently pursued, can have different roles in different situations.