TOWARDS A FLEXIBLE INNOVATION PROCESS MODEL ASSURING QUALITY AND CUSTOMER NEEDS

Louis Louw,Corne Schutte,Christian Seidel,Christian Imser

doi:10.7166/29-1-1911

Abstract

Successful innovation projects require an adequate innovation management capability in organisations. This means a sufficiently rigorous, continuous, and goal-oriented management of innovation processes. The literature research demonstrates that an integrated innovation methodology requires highly qualitative processes that are both flexible and customer-specific in their design. This work focuses on the FuGle® innovation process model, which is applied at the Industrial Engineering Department of Stellenbosch University. The enhanced FuGle® innovation process model presents flexible processes that are supported by methods and techniques that guide the user to drive innovation projects. This paper presents an innovation approach that enables organisations proactively to manage customer needs and trends. Thus the enhanced FuGle® innovation process model aims to turn an innovation project into a marketable product.

Highlights

Innovation is an essential element for creating and assuring competitive advantage, and is a necessity for any organisation’s economic sustainability
The contribution of this research is embodied in an integrated innovation management process model that enables the user to generate, design, refine, evaluate, deploy, formalise, and exploit an innovation project
The developed enhanced FuGle® innovation process model (EFIPM) is a generic innovation management process model that can be integrated into an innovation process of a company in the form of a guide or a checklist

Summary

Introduction

Innovation is an essential element for creating and assuring competitive advantage, and is a necessity for any organisation’s economic sustainability. About 100 years later, Disselkamp stated that only those organisations that repeatedly gain new competitive advantage by innovation will be able to enjoy long-term survival in the market [3]. Christensen noted the high failure rate of new products launched on to the market [6] The failure of such a high number of innovation projects may result from internal structures, despondency, and lack of knowledge of innovation management [3]. Disselkamp stated that the main problem for innovation is usually an inadequate management of innovation [3]. This means a shortcoming in sufficiently rigorous, continuous, and goal-oriented management and administration of innovation organisation and processes [3]

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Conclusion