How to create an Innovation Strategy

Innovation initiatives often fail due to the lack of an innovation strategy, providing a clear sense of direction. A company’s Innovation Strategy can be defined as a common innovation mission and a plan that aims to create new value. It includes a set of policies or behaviors aimed at achieving future organizational growth. It should provide a clear sense of direction, facilitate the balance in the allocation of R D resources, communicate a clear vision of the future. This Nugget presents the key objectives and the steps required for the definition of a company’s Innovation Strategy. It first illustrates the steps that can help developing a sustainable strategy at any organization. It then presents a tool for the identification of the Innovation Domains where the company intends to compete (both in terms of technologies/products/solutions and in terms of customers/markets) and for the definition of the right balance between exploration and exploitation initiatives. Finally, it introduces the Innovation Roadmap as a tool that visually depicts how an organization can achieve its strategic goals by means of innovation in the short/medium/long term.