Tuesday, December 30, 2008

10 Ways to Foster Innovation

More Resources from Idea Village www.Ideavillage.org

The economy might be slowing, but now is not the time to stop innovating and let your competitors gain the upper hand. Here is how you can foster a culture of innovation in your business.

Times are dangerous. Many companies are thinking about cutting their costs, however this can also send a message that staff should maintain the status quo and that new ideas are not welcome.
The last recession taught smart companies a valuable lesson – while poorly-managed companies bunkered down in survival mode, innovative companies snuck up and took the hibernating companies’ market share.

Consumers, starved for new products and services that are cheaper, better and more exciting, supported these innovators. As the cycle turned, poorly-managed companies hit the mid 1990s with diminishing revenue and market share, and nothing in the product pipeline.

So as times get tough, it is imperative that companies foster a culture of innovation. But how? RMIT University recently studied 92 fast growing companies to look at how these entrepreneurs develop a sustainable culture of innovation.

Here are the top 10 ways they foster an innovative culture.

1. Vision and core business values sets the tone
2. Organizational culture is key
3. Take a team approach
4. Encourage open communication
5. Recruit and reward innovative people
6. Take a customer focus/orientation
7. Benchmark to encourage further innovation
8. Investing in and adopting state-of-the-art technology
9. Flat management structure
10. Involve others outside the business in their vision and innovation

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This article was written by Kosmos Smyrnios & Amanda Gome as presented on the Idea Village site

Anonymous said...

When, where, why etc and finally how does a firm manage new product development, innovation, create blue ocean strategies and ensure success from the whole process.. well it depends !!.
At present, I am consulting for an organisation in Asia and here is the framework / roadmap I am using .. if it is going to help any one in the group, please feel free to use it

1. Organizing for product development (PD)

2. Knowledge Management in PD

3. Product development strategy and performance

4. Leadership and creativity in PD

5. Creativity and Design Management and Business Performance

6. Product development in a global context

7. Networks and alliances in PD

8. Radical product innovation

9. Product development process

10. Product development in services and software

11. Marketing, users and product development

12. Entrepreneurship and PD

Anonymous said...

How in the world does one really predict whether to tie a knot at the end of your rope and hold on... or to invest and spend as Kosmos Smynios is suggesting. You will need a crystal ball and I sure don't have one this quarter!