About the author

How to use this manager's guide

Introduction: Make sense of innovation

Challenge 1: Build a shared strategic vision of innovation

Innovation is today seen by many organizations as a key strategic issue. However those organizations often embark themselves into costly innovation initiatives without having a clear idea of what they want to achieve (they are inefficient), and why (they are ineffective). Too often they do not understand what innovation is about and they do not know why they want to innovate. The first challenge of innovation management is therefore to develop a shared strategic vision of:

1.1 What innovation means from a business point of view - more than creativity

1.2 How innovation unfolds over time as a process - beyond ideation

1.3 What are the different types of innovations firms can engage in - beyond new products

1.4 Why it matters - innovation management capabilities

1.5 What are the strategic innovation options - beyond new product development

1.6 What should drive strategic decision making regarding innovation - beyond hype

1.7 Synthesis - key insights

Challenge 2: Manage entrepreneurial ecosystems

A perfect innovation strategy is worthless if the firm does not have the organizational and entrepreneurial abilities to execute it. Innovations can strive only when people and teams across organizations and networks embrace change and make new things happen. This means being able and willing to experiment, learn and often fail. The second innovation management challenge is therefore to foster the right entrepreneurial behaviours at all levels: people, teams, organizations, networks and regional ecosystems.

2.1 Encourage people to innovate - corporate entrepreneurs

2.2 Build and lead effective innovation teams - balancing acts

2.3 Build innovation-ready organizations - how some elephants can dance

2.4 Develop innovative networks and collaborations - never walk alone

2.5 Create innovation ecosystems - lands of opportunities

2.6 Synthesis - key insights

Challenge 3: Identify attractive innovation opportunities

Innovation opportunities do not magically "pop-up" out of the blue, be it in R&D laboratories or brainstorming sessions. They emerge when organizations "learn to learn" from multiple internal and external sources, increasing their knowledge and intellectual capital by "thinking in new boxes", colliding, maturing and combining multiple insights and inspirations.

The third innovation management challenge is therefore to effectively identify innovation opportunities by developing the capabilities to systematically develop, screen, protect and combine both organizational and external sources of innovations:

3.1 Identify the sources of innovation opportunities - beyond R&D

3.2 Foster organizational learning - beyond ideation

3.3 Harvest and protect organizational knowledge assets - beyond patents

3.4 Integrate external sources of knowledge - proudly found elsewhere

3.5 Synthesis - key insights

Challenge 4: Develop a balanced portfolio of business models

Most innovation ideas do not lead to robust busin
About the Author:

Benoit Gailly is Professor of Innovation Management and Strategy in the Center for Research in Entrepreneurial Change and Innovative Strategies (CRECIS) at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He held the Puilaetco Chair in Management and Financing of Technology Innovation at the Louvain School of Management (LSM) from 2001 to 2006, and is Program Director of the Executive Master's Degree in Innovation Management. Benoit is also the former LSM Vice-Dean for Corporate Relations and former Chair of the committee regarding the transfer and valorization of research results for the Academic Council. Before his time at the Université Catholique de Louvain, Benoit also studied at Roskilde University in Denmark and INSEAD. His research focuses on innovation-based strategies and innovation support systems. He is the author of numerous scientific publications on innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as Developing Innovative Organizations published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2011. A former manager at McKinsey and an entrepreneur and advisor for several innovation networks and companies (both large firms and start-ups), Benoit is also a member of the Essenscia Innovation Circle and the Secretary General of the GRD Network.