A cybernetics model for managing innovations a case instance of an IT innovation

Abstract

IT service organizations depend on innovations to remain competitive, attract new markets and customers, and constantly improve the service delivery process. Typical innovation management life cycle in these organizations involves initial conception of the idea, proof of concept validation, extending it to the larger organization for scale up and realization of benefits. The inherent variety and complexity of these organizational structures and environment involving spread across multiple business domains, technologies, thousands of projects and millions of associates, throws up huge challenges for creating and diffusing innovations. The science of cybernetics can effectively be employed to manage innovation process in such complex organizational setup. The cybernetic character is evident in the complete lifecycle of innovation management. At every stage of the process, the innovation may need to be course-corrected based on feedback. This paper explores the cybernetics involved in the innovation life cycle. A cybernetic model for the managing innovations is proposed. The principles of cybernetics such as feedback, optimality, and requisite variety are leveraged in the model and illustrated with a case study of large scale IT industry process innovation.