Crafting a winning innovation strategy

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the innovation strategies of the most successful organizations and demonstrate how business organizations can outperform their rivals.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is based on a review of “How successful organizations drive innovation” by Ikeda and Marshall (2016).

Findings

Top performing organizations create organizational structures and functions to sustain innovation, create a culture of innovation and design processes to create innovation. To sustain innovation, organizations create a balance between innovation objectives and business objectives, adopt open innovation and form dedicated innovation teams. Organizations create a culture of innovation through a clear focus on innovation, agility and promoting an innovation culture. Finally, successful organizations design processes to create innovation, adopting strategies of generating new ideas from various sources, ensuring stable and secure innovation funding and deploying explicit innovation measurement.

Practical implications

The paper provides strategic insights and clear steps for all organizations to succeed in their innovation ventures.

Originality/value

Based on the review, this paper illustrates how existing and prospective companies gain a competitive edge in innovation through organizational structures, culture and processes.

Citation

Sharmelly, R. (2017), "Crafting a winning innovation strategy", Strategic Direction, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 8-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/SD-11-2016-0151