The Role of Planning In Innovation Success: Experience of Leading Polish Enterprises

The article describes the role of planning in managing innovation processes; proper management is the key to final success. It was presented basing on the practices of Polish leading innovative enterprises. The research was in a form of semi-structured interviews with managers involved in innovation processes within those enterprises. The interviews were conducted directly according to a questionnaire and a fixed question list which was developed and specified during the conversations. This form of research enabled thorough analysis of the applied management techniques of at least several innovation processes in every company. Only successful cases were taken into consideration however their scope was very miscellaneous: new products, radical changes in manufacturing technology or in machine upgrade or in innovations improving customer service. Their common feature is success defined as a visible influence on company's development gained through implemented innovation. The aim of the research was the management analysis of these kinds of processes and to define whether they were planned and how. It was also determined how managers link innovation process planning with its final success. All the findings were presented, analyzed and discussed and they led to elaborating the initial model of innovation process planning. The model is basing on two main assumptions resulting from the conducted research. The first one deals with distinguishing three categories of innovation processes which characterize particular management approach. The second assumption is directly related to innovation process planning; it indicates the necessity of successive process planning together with its progress. This also is connected with high uncertainty degree of particular actions and frequent non-linear innovation process course. Thus a three-stage planning model was suggested, the stages give more details about previously made assumptions. This approach enables setting the innovation direction and therefore is the basis for carrying out the remaining managing functions. The uncertainty degree is decreasing along with every stage of innovation process, hence the decision making process was also included. Conclusions refer to how the suggested planning approach is linked with innovation success.