Improve your innovation efforts

Despite public policies aimed at encouraging businesses to innovate, Canada’s business record remains mediocre and a Conference Board of Canada report says performance won’t improve unless companies change their approach to strategy, structures, and processes.

Innovation Management for Established Businesses: Management Matters, highlights practical strategies to help companies strengthen their innovation performance. It observes established businesses are likely to be large and will need a more organized approach. It recommends focusing on the following principles:

• Bold leadership is at the heart of innovative companies.
• Strategy determines what and how companies will innovate.
• Organizational structure influences the innovation effort.
• Successful companies give their innovation efforts adequate resources and stay the course.
• Innovation process management with appropriate metrics is important.
• It’s people who innovate, so people management is an important element of success.

The research was funded by the Conference Board’s Centre for Business Innovation.