If one considers that general research on the strategic health of South African organisations suggests that strategic imperatives are being addressed in an adhoc, emergent manner and that only 55% of local organisations are rated well on this aspect, one can expect the innovativeness of South African organisations to be closer to this figure too (55%).2
Additional comments posted on the topic of organisational innovativeness indicated that much still needs to be done to actively grow innovation as an inherent competence. Most of the organisations sampled commented that innovation
is viewed as important but that
progress is being made in an adhoc manner. Innovation activities are still in the process of being addressed or are taking place by means of trial and error.
Does your organisation effectively measure innovation?
I don't know No Sometimes Yes
I don't know No Sometimes Yes
27% 17%
I don't know No Sometimes Yes
10% 46%
The Most Popular Innovation Management Approaches
The most popular innovation management approaches employed by the South African organisations sampled are: • innovation committees to evaluate and approve ideas 51%;
• innovation teams 49%; and • general change management approaches 46.9%.
A formal innovation strategy is in place at 44.9% of the organisations that participated, and 42.6% indicated that they make use of internal collaboration platforms to advance and promote innovation. Interestingly, only 38.8% of organisations indicated that they actively reward innovation efforts.
Many organisations, however, are still in the initial planning phase for effective innovation management. From the above it can be deduced that although strategic planning does receive some attention, South African organisations are implementing smaller scale interventions to impact on innovation objectives before formal, large scale innovation management approaches are adopted. Existing structures, resources and platforms are being optimised but the more enabling innovation mechanisms (for example, reward mechanisms, crowdsourcing platforms, collaboration platforms etcetera) do not receive the required attention upfront. Innovation is planned for in an adhoc manner and traditional hierarchies tend to slow down implementation that influences speed to market.
I don't know No Sometimes Yes
Figure 4: Innovation measurement and value tracking
Types of Innovation Most organisations view innovation as a source of competitive advantage and are focusing their innovation efforts mainly on product innovation (60.5%) and business model innovation (57.9%). South
African organisations focus more
on incremental innovation (50%) than radical innovation, but in most instances a combination of focus areas was evident. Organisations are not concentrating on one type of innovation at the expense of another. Similar results are found on the types of innovation focus in other parts.
88 Management Today | September 2012
Structuring the Organisation for Innovation Success
In terms of structuring the organisation for innovation success, various approaches are adopted in South Africa. Most organisations use a decentralised approach where the responsibility for innovation management ultimately resides with the unit or divisional head (57.9%). The title of Innovation Manager is also becoming more common as 43.5% of organisations indicated that they do have a dedicated person occupying such a position. Innovation units on the other hand, are evident in only 37% of the organisations surveyed.
The Innovation Journal
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