WE NEED TO MANAGE THE INNOVATION VALUE CHAIN, FROM IDEA GENERATION TO DIFFUSION, HOLISTICALLY. INNOVATORS NEED TO ANTICIPATE MARKET AND OTHER CHALLENGES THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE INNOVATIONS THAT THEY ARE WORKING ON.
may be languishing in other parts because they do not receive the priority they deserve because those units are preoccupied by other concerns (Hansen & Birkinshaw, 2007).
Furthermore, to build an innovative climate within an organisation requires a systems perspective on key business management aspects, namely people, market orientation, organisational learning and entrepreneurship. Innovation ought to be required and expected of all employees and not only from leadership. People management policies and processes should encourage innovation. In order to succeed in innovation, companies need to focus on customer needs and take into account competitors’ capabilities. Excessive risk aversion can discourage innovation within organisations. On the other hand, proactiveness and risk tolerance can inspire the entrepreneurial spirit that is the lifeblood of innovation.
Finally, companies can promote innovation by fostering systematic development of knowledge and insights to improve organisational performance. In this sense, innovation is not just an outbound process, focussing only on spinning out products and solution to the market, but is also a form of organisational learning and renewal.
2.3 The national system South Africa’s National System of Innovation consists of various institutions, organisations and
policies that play different 78 Management Today | September 2012 but
complementary roles. The most important change that needs to happen at the level of the nation is the strengthening of the interactions between the various elements that make up the system. This applies to both the quantity and quality of the interactions. Furthermore, policy-makers ought to approach problems that face the country regarding innovation in a systems fashion. Here are specific recommendations to government that would leverage the system nature of the NSI: • Integrate all key research and development institutions within a single strategic centre • Institute coordination and advisory mechanisms within the Presidency in order to raise the profile of innovation in the country • Promote increased interactions within the various sectors of the innovation system • Deploy the NSI in its entirety to address key national challenges such as human capital development and unemployment.
3. Conclusion
Innovation can make an important contribution towards addressing South Africa’s social and economic challenges. A systems approach to managing the innovation process, the organisations and the national system can help to unlock South Africa’s latent capacity to be a leading knowledge economy. The interventions proposed in this paper, which are based on systems thinking as the underlying philosophical approach, will contribute towards deepening the culture of innovation in South Africa.
References Ackoff, R.L. (1971). Towards a System of Systems Concepts. Management Science, 17(11):661-671. Hansen, M.T. & Birkinshaw, J. (2007). The Innovation Value Chain. Harvard Business Review, Reprint R0706J. Senge, P.M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. New York: Doubleday.
The Innovation Journal
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