Auditing complex product systems for innovation management

Technological innovation plays a more and more important role for a corporate to survive and develop in this intensively competitive global environment. Complex Product Systems (CoPS) is a very important research field in technological innovation, as well as the basis of a country's core technological innovation ability. It is widely believed that to ensure the satisfactory CoPS innovation output a company must improve its performance of CoPS innovation management. The goal of this paper is to draw on the concept of technological innovation audit to the assessment process of CoPS innovation, and to provide practical management tool for Chinese leading companies. Based on the former classical research in the field of technological innovation audit and considering the particulars of Chinese companies, this paper formulates a new model for the assessment process of CoPS innovation, In the new model, the CoPS innovation process is divided into core process and peripheral system according to the dynamic and systemic properties of CoPS innovation. Based on this model, the paper designs specific framework and forms for the assessment of CoPS innovation process. At the end of this paper, the specific form is applied to the CoPS process of Eastcom Corporate. The paper compares the CoPS process of Eastcom Corporate with those of Huawei Technology, Zhongxing Telecom and Lucent Corporate, and gives some practical suggestions about improving Eastcom's CoPS innovation performance.