Four basic company styles of Innovation Management

In an IBM podcast, called “Innovating On Your Own Terms” from September 2007 researchers talk about their results from a couple of studies specifically focused on Innovation.

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The first of over 700 CEO’s observed that there were three dimensions to Innovation:

• Business model innovation
• Operational innovation
• Ideas that are turned into new product and service revenue streams

IBM and Innosight, along with the American Productivity and Quality Council (APQC), followed this up with research into 200 companies in 14 countries. They looked at two aspects of innovation:

• A set of metrics that would help companies work out whether they are innovative
• To find out how companies actually do innovation

One rather strikingly obvious observation they make is that “People are interested in Innovation because it is profitable, but it is profitable because it is hard.”

What they found is that there is no one way to Innovate. They identified four different approaches depending on the corporate DNA:

• A marketplace of ideas – an example of this is Google
• The visionary leader – an example of this is Apple, although the visionary leader does not necessarily have to be the CEO
• Innovation through rigor – examples of this are Samsung, Procter & Gamble and Goldman Sachs
• Innovation through collaboration – essentially Open Innovation companies

They point out that companies can get themselves into trouble by trying to emulate an archetype that they are fundamentally not.

For more details of the research and company types the podcast (about 12 mins long) and transcripts are available from IBM.

If a company wishes to take part in the programme they can by contacting the APQC.