Innovate or die!
Given the pace of change and market pressures, it is not surprising
that innovation - 'successfully exploit new ideas' - is on most
executives' lips. A business's ability to be innovative is widely
seen as holding one of the most important keys to unlocking competitive
advantage.
Where do we find innovation?
Most people understand the importance of technological innovation,
observing its tangible effect in new products in fields such as
computers and pharmaceuticals. Most managers also recognise the
need for innovative services, selling, distribution, advertising,
promotion and pricing. But innovation also applies to internal
management processes and systems. These may include new ways of
working which are more cost-efficient and effective in using resources,
more streamlined in handling, quicker to market, enhancing quality.
Indeed, such internal innovation is often a necessary precursor
to innovation in the marketplace. This multi-dimensional and demanding
agenda for innovation calls for an understanding in how to give
an organisation the systemic capacity to be innovative in all
it does.
A diagnostic toolkit
A well-developed toolkit is available to establish where your
organisation currently stands and to discover the scope for making
advancements. It focuses on ten areas:
- Managing creative and innovative people
- Developing people's innovative capability
- Developing an organisation culture of innovation
- Applying performance management methods to innovation
- Using competency-based approaches to enhance innovation
- Taking advantage of individuals' creative ideas
- Understanding the forces that stifle or fuel innovation
- Responding to workplace trends which affect innovation
- Exploiting the many sources of innovation
- Measuring business innovation at a strategic level
Taking action
The audit highlights numerous improvement opportunities in the
ten domains listed. These are then coupled with advice and action
that turns recommendations into actionable change.
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