Are Real-World Requirements Supported by Current Innovation Management Systems? A Reality Check

Abstract

Managing suggestions for product and process improvements or other ideas from employees, which could result in new innovations, is one of the key factors to stay competitive in fast changing economic and technical conditions. For this reason, various innovation management systems (IMS) have been developed in recent years to help collect and structure ideas and finally to become more innovative. However, studies reveal that many small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in particular have only little focus on innovation. This raises the question why they cannot benefit from the above-mentioned advantages of IMS and whether the actual needs of a company differ from the functions offered by IMS. Therefore, this work focusses on answering the question if state-of-the-art IMS meet existing requirements of enterprises. Empirical studies consisting of interviews, questionnaires, and workshops with employees from all departments of two companies provided insights into the requirements for innovation management (IM) and the success factors of implementing an IT solution for IM. These requirements are finally compared to features of current IT-supported IMS.