Abstract
The purpose of this letter is to provide background and rationale for developing a management system standard to further the profession of innovation management. A systems approach is not new; however, the ISO 56002 Innovation management system - guidance standard is providing a common language and framework for building an innovation capability. The letter describes the innovation management principles and the system elements. We have heard that even having a standard for innovation management is an oxymoron. The publication of ISO 56002 in 2019 has triggered a broader conversation about the merits and drawbacks of a management system standard for innovation work. Some issues have been pointed out by Joe Tidd in his review and critical assessment of the standard (Tidd, 2021). As experts involved in drafting the standard, we can offer informed perspectives of this assessment by focusing on four topics related to context, innovation strategy, adaptable processes and tools, and process versus system approaches. These perspectives are ours alone and do not represent the views of the ISO Working Group. We invite the community to engage in this discussion to evolve our thinking about standardization for innovation management.
Highlights
1.1 Background and rationaleInnovation management is today an emerging profession, similar to quality management and project management in the past
In the case of quality, a management system standard was fundamental to professionalizing the discipline, including establishing a common language and body of knowledge
The development of the Innovation management system guidance standard started at the European level in 2008
Summary
Innovation management is today an emerging profession, similar to quality management and project management in the past. Organizations ask themselves if they have the right innovation capabilities and how they can be improved, but there is no recognized framework to compare against. To address these challenges, a framework based on a management system standard should provide the following:. A durable foundation for innovation management that is applicable for most sectors, organization types and sizes, etc It is about using the robust features of an international standardization approach, building on community, consensus, experts, etc., to boost the practical application of research-based knowledge, with the understanding that what we know will continue to evolve
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