Stages of Innovative Capacity

In the creation of an atmosphere of innovation, companies find themselves at different stages. These stages is represented by the following graph:

So what are the characteristics of organisations at the different stages of innovative capacity?

Type A firms are unconscious or unaware of the need to innovate. They do not recognise the need to improve, do not know how to improve, cannot recognise triggers in the environmental may waste resources by doing the wrong kind of adjustments.

Type B firms recognise the challenge to change, but do not know how to do it in the most effective way. Their external networks are poor, and they do not have internal resources to change. They change in reaction to problems they experience, eg. Low sales.

Type C firms are well aware of their need to change. The have and are capable of developing strategies to change. They compete within the boundaries of existing markets but are unable to explore new markets or do radical changes.

Type D firms take a creative and proactive approach by using all available knowledge to create a competitive advantage. They have effective internal innovative strategies but are also able to rewrite the external ‘rules’ of innovation.

In summary, successful innovation management has two components:

• Innovation is a process, not a single event, and needs to be managed as such.
• The influences on the process can be managed to affect the outcome, simply – innovation can be managed!