How organizational culture enables innovation in vocational schools: Evidence from a qualitative case study in Indonesia

Abstract

Background-School innovation in vocational education requires more than technological adoption; it also depends on organizational conditions that enable members to respond collectively to educational and labor-market change. However, limited qualitative evidence explains how specific cultural mechanisms interact to support innovation in Indonesian vocational schools. Objectives-This study examined how organizational culture enables school innovation within a vocational secondary school context. Method-A qualitative case study was conducted at an Indonesian vocational school, with the school principal serving as the key informant. Data were collected through an in-depth semi-structured interview, direct observations, and document analysis. A hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis was employed. Five sensitizing dimensions derived from organizational culture and learning-organization perspectives guided the initial analysis, while open coding allowed additional patterns, relationships, and contextual tensions to be identified from the empirical data. Results-The findings suggest that innovation was supported through the interaction of shared organizational values, participatory leadership, collaborative professional culture, technology-enabled practices, and organizational learning. Shared values provided cultural direction, participatory leadership encouraged involvement, collaboration facilitated knowledge sharing, technology functioned as an innovation enabler, and organizational learning supported continuous adaptation. The findings also indicated uneven internalization of organizational values and differences in technological readiness, demonstrating that cultural transformation was not uniform across the school. Conclusions-The study suggests that vocational-school innovation is better understood as an interconnected cultural process rather than a technology-driven initiative. Theoretically, the findings clarify how cultural mechanisms interact to create conditions for innovation in vocational education. Practically, school leaders should strengthen participatory decision-making, collaborative professional learning, digital capacity development, and continuous organizational reflection.