A Framework for Managing the Innovation Process

Successful innovation requires an integrated design process, i.e. integration in the design of the enterprise, the design of the product, as well as the design and implementation of new technologies. Such an integrated design effort requires good collaboration and management of the designs, and should be supported by efficient knowledge management techniques and tools. If innovation is to help a business grow and improve its competitiveness, it is also important to plan the innovation carefully. Though some ideas may just "fall from the sky" or "come out of the blue", an organisation should also have a strategic vision of how the business and the enterprise should develop. The Enterprise should not wait for the innovation to arrive arbitrarily, but rather proactively plan for innovation incorporating market trends, the competitive landscape, new technology availability, and changes in customer preferences and trends in order to create fruitful terroir conducive for innovative thinking. Such an enterprise will also pro-actively manage the knowledge supply chain that supports innovation. This paper presents a combined convergent and divergent approach for managing innovation within an innovation landscape that contextualise domains, role-players, decision points and knowledge network components. The Innovation management model specifically focuses on the use of roadmapping for planning and deploying innovation within a collaborative deployment environment. A case study illustrating the use of parts of the framework within the insurance industry is also presented.