Unexpected Allies in Innovation

Excerpt

The importance of a constant stream of innovative products to a company’s long term success has long been accepted. The same is true of the need for strong management involvement in innovation. While innovation processes have always been considered a challenging terrain for managers, several trends have recently increased the pressure. For one, growing global competition has raised the need for innovation. Second, the increasing orientation of companies towards shareholder value concepts has forced managers to watch the use of funds and innovations’ contributions to the company more closely. Tight management is needed to guarantee a steady flow of economically successful innovations that create shareholder value. In consequence, managers face the increasingly complex task of integrating innovation processes into the strategic and operational planning and monitoring systems used in other parts of the company. …