Creativity in life sciences R and D : A study employing adaption-innovation theory.

This research is concerned with the question of performance
in scientific research, and focusses on the potential of
Adaption-Innovation theory (Kirton, 1976) for providing
insights into individual innovativeness. Using empirical data
from four large research organisations, a taxonomy of
scientists is developed using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation
(KAI) inventory. This taxonomy breaks new ground in its use
of the sub-scales of KAI. It shows that the use of the total
KAI scale, as in previous research in the literature, is a
conflation which conceals important insights. The research
also breaks new ground in its conceptualisation of research
performance. Two dimensions of performance are hypothesised:
creative performance and skills performance. The evidence
suggests that the distinction is meaningful and that the two
dimensions are essentially orthogonal.
The taxonomy developed in this research identifies four types
of scientists according to their location on the '0' and 'E'
sub-scales of the KAI. It is in the distinction between two
types possessing similar mid-range KAI scores that the
research makes a notable contribution to the literature.
These two types are shown to be very different in terms of
their performance, job satisfaction and other
characteristics. It is through these insights that the
research offers the prospect of an instrument of value in the
deployment of research scientists.
Finally, concerns about the conceptual status of the KAI are
developed. The KAI is critically reviewed, and the evidence
presented seriously challenges the claim that the KAI is
purely a measure of cognitive style. Criticism is focussed on
the 0 sub-scale which, it is argued, contains items
measuring level of cognitive ability. A refined KAI is
developed and evaluated using a sample of post-graduate
students of management. It is demonstrated that sub-scales
can be derived which are more homogeneous conceptually and
give nearly orthogonal measures.