Generation of strategic options for fostering business development on a long-term basis
Innovation Management Integrated System
Innovation is the main growth engine.
Established companies must innovate for the future, while running their core business. This is a reality that is now accepted by most corporate leaders. International reports note that 70% of senior leaders view innovation as one of the top three drivers of growth in their companies.
Results are disappointing.
Despite significant effort and good intentions, most corporate leaders are still not satisfied with the returns they are getting from investments in innovation. Less than 30% of leaders indicate that they are confident with the decisions they are making around innovation.
There is not a common, accurate understanding about innovation.
Unfortunately, the discussions we had with different companies shows that most of them either conduct innovation on an ad-hoc basis (“one-off projects”) or they do not innovate at all.
Moreover, there are some companies that associate innovation with either change management activities or performance improvement initiatives of their existing operations. Innovation is neither regarded as a growth engine nor as a differentiator but rather it is seen as an unsustainable cost.
The organizations face the following challenges when having to manage innovation in a sustainable way:
- They don't know how and where to start
- They do not have the right mix of skills and competences
- They perceive innovation as a risky business since they do not know how to manage and measure it
- There is no link between innovation and their business strategy
- They do not allocate enough, adequate resources for continuous innovation
- There is significant resistance to change
You can find below Enovise Present’s Innovation Management Integrated System based on best practices from Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Business Model Innovation and Agile principles.
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ENOVISE PRESENT METHODOLOGY
Our integrated approach on Innovation is the result of a comprehensive analysis of the most relevant and proven methodologies that govern innovation today. Additionally, the practical experience of the Enovise Present’s team members give consistency to the whole approach. Elements inspired from the Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Business Model Innovation, and Agile principles, mixed together, help companies to set up a continuous process, by developing the right internal structures, processes, and the required environment. Our methodology is sustained by several instruments, methods, and advanced techniques that facilitate a successful implementation. Its applicability is wide enough: it applies to all business leaders, managers and employees who understand that a sustainable medium-to-long term growth is critical to the success of their companies. Our methodology has five pillars:
Innovation Management Integrated System
Innovation
Strategy
Strategy
Innovation
Process
Process
Innovation Performance Management System
Innovation Excellence Center (IEC)
Innovation Culture Innovation Strategy
The most important thing is to have a coherent innovation strategy that closely aligns with the overall strategy of the business. Without this alignment, innovation is leading nowhere, will not be properly financed, and will be regarded as a mere cost driver bringing no real benefits.
Innovation Process
It allows to analyze and manage the innovation portfolio and offers a structured and creative way to problem-solving. Moreover, this enables idea selection, testing, and scaling in a structured and repetitive manner.
Innovation Performance Management System
Generally, it is used to measure how well innovation teams are doing in their search for profitable business models. Most companies use the same measurement system for both innovation and core business activities. This is not recommended as the exploration needs a completely different framework to nurture. For this reason, innovation requires a dedicated performance management system.
Innovation Excellence Center (IEC)Every company should choose the right governance model for innovation based on two critical factors – the company’s context and the innovation strategy. One of the main roles of the innovation excellence center is to allow for the development of the organizational capabilities required for innovation activities. Moreover, it would support the development of employee skills and knowledge for these purposes. IEC plays an essential role in the implementation of an innovation culture, as well.
Innovation CultureSuccessful implementation of all key elements (strategy, process, measurement system, governance model) depends on the existing organizational culture. A culture that fosters innovation enables the context for encouraging certain types of behaviors and actions that ultimately lead to significant, enduring benefits.
BENEFITS OF THE INNOVATION MANAGEMENT INTEGRATED SYSTEM
Internal capability development required for enabling a continuous innovation process within the organization.
Break the innovation barriers (e.g. fear of unknown) and increase the trust in pursuing innovative initiatives
Set the stage for developing an innovation-oriented culture: proactivity, taking ownership of proposed ideas, transparency, result-focused orientation, experimentation mindset
Implementation of a structured and continuous innovation process that can be easily monitored and measured enabling quick decision making when needed
Increase employees’ engagement and motivation to start and build innovative initiatives that are linked with the strategic priorities of the company. Reward individuals based on meritocracy
THE INNOVATION PROCESS
A key element of the Enovise Present’s Methodology is the innovation process. It allows for a structured and continuous transformation of ideas into concepts that will eventually be tested and validated. If the success criteria are met, then it continues with scaling and commercialization phase of the products and services.
Defining strategic opportunities
Based on the innovation strategy, strategic opportunities are defined and prioritized
Problem definition and need identification
Unsolved issues and real needs are explored by focusing on interactions with potential clients
Idea generation and selection
Multiple ideas are generated, evaluated, and prioritized to answer the unmet needs
Concept development
Definition of the hypotheses supporting the new concept and ways to test and refine them
Concept validation
Testing of hypothesis based on actual data to adjust / validate the concept
Scaling up
The business model is now validated, and the organization is ready to focus on commercializing the product or services at a larger scale.
If properly done, innovation pays off: the most innovative companies vastly outperform other companies. Thus, according to public data, the high – leveraged innovators outperformed their competitors in gross profit growth (which was 6.6 times higher than other companies), operating income growth (7.0 times higher), and total shareholder returns, which were 13.4 times higher than the performance of the rest of the companies in the Global Innovation 1000.
You can find below how we applied this methodology for our clients
If your ambitions regarding innovation initiative go beyond a simple idea and you seriously consider taking a step further in the upcoming period, I invite you to have a talk on this subject. We would be excited to help you along this fascinating journey! You can contact us directly on Linkedin or at the following email addresses:
ionutzaharia@enovisepresent.com or
adrian.banciu@enovisepresent.com.
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