Navigating Innovation

How to Identify, Prioritize and Capture Opportunities for Strategic Success

Benoit Gailly

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9783319771908
• eBook ISBN: 9783319771915
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business Strategy
• Index: Business

Every firm must maintain an entrepreneurial ecosystem and a coherent innovation strategy in order to stay ahead of the competition. For managers this means being able to build a vision of what innovation looks like in the context of their organization, fostering entrepreneurial behaviour, spotting opportunities and making the right decisions. Based on years of practical experience and unique insight, this handy guide identifies fundamental challenges and is rooted in concrete examples. Accompanied by a brand new app for iPhone and Android as well as a companion website (www.NavigatingInnovation.org), this is an easy dip in, dip out guide with a focus on successful execution. Navigating Innovation is a one-stop-shop, giving you a deeper understanding of the core concepts and tools to capture the right opportunities for your business.

© The Author(s) 2018

Benoit GaillyNavigating Innovationhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77191-5_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: Make Sense of Innovation

Benoit Gailly¹ 

(1)

Louvain School of Management, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

 

End Abstract

Innovation is today on top of the agenda of managers, entrepreneurs and policymakers . It is an opportunity to develop and grow new business models but also a threat to existing ones. It is also a societal challenge, as entire professions disappear while new ones are created. Simply ignoring innovation is therefore not an option.

But innovation debates too often seem more like buzzword competitions than rigorous management thinking. From digital transformation to industry 4.0 , from sustainable business models to crowd-hackathons, managers can get lost in what has often become a confusing maze of ideas, concepts, tools and initiatives.

As a consequence, too many managers, entrepreneurs and policymakers still live and think in “innovation wonderland”, a place where great opportunities are just an ideation workshop away, where spending more on R&D or creativity sessions is the key to success, where crowds always have wisdom and where being the first to invent is always the winning option.

But in the real world of innovation, opportunities must be hunted and matured, distinctive innovation management capabilities must be developed and tough strategic choices regarding innovations must be made. Being a very creative business is one thing; successfully managing innovations is another.

The key to innovation success is to do much more than generate ideas. The key to innovation success is to have an organization capable of effectively identifying, prioritizing and capturing innovation opportunities , in line with its strategy and ecosystem . The key to innovation success is therefore more “brain” and less “storming”.

Combining rigorous concepts and hands-on experience, this guide will help you find your way through the innovation maze. It will help you ask the right questions and equip you with the right approaches and insights, thus empowering you to find the answers that will work for your organization .

These questions, approaches and insights are organized according to the five key challenges of successful innovation management:

• Build a shared strategic vision of innovation
• Manage entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Identify attractive innovation opportunities
• Develop a balanced portfolio of business models
• Nimble execution : fail fast and win big

Welcome to the real world of innovation. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy the journey!

© The Author(s) 2018

Benoit GaillyNavigating Innovationhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77191-5_2

Begin Abstract

2. Build a Shared Strategic Vision of Innovation

Benoit Gailly¹

(1)

Louvain School of Management, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

End Abstract

Innovation is today seen by many organizations as a key strategic issue. These organizations, however, often embark on costly innovation initiatives, without having any clear idea of what they want to achieve (thus they are inefficient) or why (thus they are ineffective). Too often, they do not understand or do not agree on what innovation is or why and how they want to innovate.

The first challenge of innovation management is therefore to develop a shared strategic vision of innovation: why a firm must proactively manage innovation, what innovation actually means as a business, how it unfolds as a process, what are the different types of innovation, what are the resulting strategic options and what should drive the decision-making regarding those options (Fig. 2.1).

Fig. 2.1

Building a shared strategic vision

2.1 Why It Matters: Innovation Management Capabilities

Innovations have occurred and endured for thousands of years. Fire, boats, pottery, irrigation, agriculture, wheels, writing and dozens of other technological breakthroughs have changed humanity. In recent centuries, major waves of innovation such as mechanization, steam, steel and railroads, electricity and the combustion engine, petrochemicals and electronics have led to industrial revolutions . Each time, organizations , institutions and societies had to learn how to adapt to them.

What has changed in recent decades is that innovation has evolved from an “exceptional event” to “the new normal”. In the past, most firms could cope with innovation as an occasional shock. They enjoyed periods of reasonably stable equilibrium between those shocks. Today, global and industry trends force firms to constantly make decisions regarding existing and emerging innovations. Innovation has to be on the strategic agenda of every firm, and the ability to deal with innovation has become critical (Fig. 2.2).

Fig. 2.2

Developing innovation management capabilities

Key Insights (detailed in following sections)

1. i.
   Megatrends such as technology disruptions , international competition and sustainability affect firms across all sectors and industries, creating new competitive and social challenges .
2. ii.
   Industries and sectors are also disrupted by new regulations , new customer needs and new technologies , forcing firms to reconsider the sustainability of their assets and activities.
3. iii.
   Small and large firms across sectors must place innovation among their strategic priorities if they do not want to suffer the fate of the dinosaurs.
4. iv.
   This implies developing innovation management capabilities to identify, select and capture the right innovation opportunities , in line with the firm’s ecosystem and strategy.

2.1.1 Megatrends: Beyond Hi-Tech

While in the past only the so-called hi-tech sectors were considered innovation intensive, today firms across all sectors are affected by global trends that force them to place innovation on their strategic agenda . Today, managers (still) try to build “immortal firms in mortal markets” (N. Dew) and many employees want lifelong job security, but most firms are bound to suffer the consequences of creative destruction .

Among the global firms that were in the world’s top ten ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: Make Sense of Innovation
• 2. Build a Shared Strategic Vision of Innovation
• 3. Manage Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
• 4. Identify Attractive Innovation Opportunities
• 5. Develop a Balanced Portfolio of Business Models
• 6. Nimble Execution: Fail Fast and Win Big
• 7. Conclusion: More Brain, Less Storming
• Back Matter