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Managing Innovation (managing + innovation)
Selected AbstractsManaging innovation through social architecture, learning, and competencies: a new conceptual approachKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2006Peter Murray Traditional innovative narratives are presented in a structured, almost prescribed, fashion in the innovation literature. This structural approach treats knowledge as a commodity that can be easily developed and shared. In this paper we argue the opposite, suggesting that developing competencies is fundamentally linked to socially constructed innovative practices and processes developed over time as the organisation evolves and learns new ways. We suggest that the latter is better reflected by a processual view of knowledge management; how it evolves, how it leads to innovation. While the innovation literature is familiar with the importance of learning and knowledge practices, we contend that the learning routines themselves are not practised in a systematic fashion. We argue that innovation is seldom of a breakthrough type. Instead, we call for an integrative approach that combines social processes with learning and innovation. Socially crafted routines we suggest lead to greater innovative outcomes and effectiveness. This paper explores and investigates these ideas by matching different contexts to processes. The paper develops a theoretical framework which indicates the integrative and interactive forces required for successful innovation implementation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Managing innovation in an emerging sector: the case of marine-based nutraceuticalsR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007Jayaram K. Sankaran Biotechnology is turning a traditionally low-tech industry (food) into a high-tech industry (functional food/nutraceuticals). There is a real need to enhance managerial understanding by clarifying the nature of innovation processes in the functional food industry, including the role of research and development (R&D) and collaboration. The present investigation focuses on a particular segment of the functional food industry, viz. marine-based nutraceuticals. We find that various hurdles thwart the fullest realization of the business potential of marine bio-actives in the pharmaceutical space. However, the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals/cosmeceuticals is yet possible if the extraction route for supply is a feasible fallback option, should industrial-scale synthesis prove elusive. Effectiveness in innovation is facilitated by the collaboration of various disciplines including epidemiology, traditional/folkloric medicine, aquaculture/fermentation, natural products chemistry, toxicology, and relevant strands of medical, pharmacological, and clinical research. In this regard, the inter-disciplinary field of ethno-pharmacology rises to prominence. Universities and government research institutes may be well positioned to drive such collaboration and reap the benefits from problem definition in addition to problem solving. Toward this end, the findings from the present study are integrated into a phased approach toward the innovation of commercially viable marine-based nutraceuticals that is targeted at entrepreneurs in this field. [source] Managing innovation in a knowledge intensive technology organisation (KITO)R & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2002Audrey Verhaeghe This study aims to add to the existing knowledge of how innovation works in organisations. By understanding how to assess/evaluate processes that support and enable innovation, managers can better manage innovation as a business process. This paper addresses elements of organisational behaviour that relate to people management where innovation and technology management is concerned. Perception plays a crucial role in driving behaviour and therefore the widely accepted business scorecard methodology has been used to measure innovation practices in the organisation. The research was done in a knowledge intensive technology organisation (KITO) in South Africa. Interviews with managers of R&D were conducted. These interviews were used to adapt an existing audit instrument to suit the technology,based organisation. Thereafter, a comprehensive audit of innovation was conducted at three different management levels using the adapted instrument. Over 100, mostly R&D managers, were asked to complete a scorecard,based questionnaire and to draw a visual representation (VR) of innovation. The results of the interviews, audit and VRs were used to produce a management framework that is not only applicable to a KITO, but can also be used widely to improve innovation through enhanced visual understanding of any technology,based organisation. The results of the study indicate that measuring innovation through a validated instrument is highly valuable. The Holistic System Framework for innovation and the measurement instrument facilitated (1) management of, and (2) organisational learning about innovation. The comprehensive audit indicated, on a strategic level, the strengths and weaknesses of the innovation process as practised in the organisation. The instrument is valuable at a strategic management level as it indicates where in the organisation the gaps exist regarding the management of the process of innovation with the aim to create a competitive advantage. [source] Life-Cycle Flexibility: How to Measure and Improve the Innovative Capability in Turbulent Environments,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2006Tommaso Buganza Managing innovation in rapidly moving environments, such as Interned-based services, is a major challenge for the consolidated theories on product and service development. The innovation management literature identifies flexibility as the right way for coping with these challenges. By increasing the development process flexibility, it is possible to reduce the development time as well as the time and cost needed for last-minute concept changes. But this is not enough. The product or service must also be flexible after it has been released: A life-cycle flexibility (LCF) must be pursued. Focused on the Italian on-line discount brokers industry, this article is a result of a two-staged research process that started with a qualitative explorative phase (i.e., case-study methodology) and ended with a quantitative explorative one (i.e., questionnaire methodology). It identifies three different LCF dimensions,frequency of adaptation, rapidity of adaptation, and quality of adaptation,and it defines a metric for each of them. Subsequently, it identifies five managerial and organizational practices that increase at least one of the three LCF dimensions: (1) to manage the back-end technological competences; (2) to share the front-end technological competences with external suppliers; (3) to utilize open and standard technologies; (4) to have a low formalization of the new service development (NSD) procedures; and (5) to have high formalization of the NSD organization. [source] Design Inertia: Designing for Life-Cycle Flexibility in Internet-Based Services,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2005Roberto Verganti Managing innovation in rapidly moving environments, such as Internet-based services, is a major challenge in theory and in practice. Most of the existing literature focuses on the development process as the main area in which innovation takes place. However, in environments where the pace of change of technology and market needs is extremely high, managing service innovations means not only being able to design a good service but also, more importantly, continuously redesigning and adapting the service in order to deal with frequent exogenous changes and opportunities. A high number of innovations therefore must be introduced throughout the entire life cycle of a service. This capability of introducing incremental and radical innovations during the service life cycle (i.e., to adapt a service to contextual changes and opportunities after it has been first released onto the market) at low costs and in the shortest possible time is what is defined here as service life-cycle flexibility. This process of service adaptation and upgrading implies significant challenges that can be traced back to when a service is first conceived and designed. In fact, many decisions made during the first design process (i.e., the choice of a given database environment) involve a low reversibility rate and may reduce the possibility of taking advantage of future unpredictable opportunities, creating what is called inertia toward innovation. In other words, service life-cycle flexibility largely depends on how a service has been first designed. This article analyzes two in-depth case studies of Italian online newspapers and identifies five possible inertia factors that may influence service life-cycle flexibility, namely (1) technological inertia; (2) internal organizational inertia; (3) external organizational inertia; (4) customer inertia toward changes in the service package; and (5) customer inertia toward changes in the service interaction design. These inertia factors are traced back to the service development process in order to suggest design practices that may increase the service life-cycle flexibility. [source] An exploratory comparison of the management of innovation in the New and Old economiesR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2003Serghei Floricel This paper uses a combination of grounded theorising and exploratory quantitative analysis to compare the patterns of organising and managing innovation in the New and Old Economies. The results show that firms in the NE put in place structures and processes that give the R&D function a more strategic position, link it directly to customers and accelerate innovation throughput inside the firm. [source] | ||||||||||