The Point & Purpose of Business Innovation
Why should a business innovate at all? It is the question every innovation practitioner eventually has to answer - to a skeptical executive, a nervous board, or themselves. The answer is a principle that anchors this whole course: the point and purpose of business innovation is to advance the business in a strategically significant way. Innovation is a means to an end, never an end in itself.
Quick poll
Why should a business invest in innovation?
Pick the answer that fits you best - there's no wrong choice.
Responsiveness
React to change
Relevance
Stay wanted
Resilience
Survive shocks
Growth
Expand value
Learning objectives
After completing this module, you'll be able to:
- Explain why innovation is a means to a strategic end, not an end in itself
- Describe the four key strategic outcomes innovation can produce
- Recognise and avoid 'innovation theatre' - innovating to appear innovative
- Connect any innovation effort back to a real strategic goal
- Make the business case for why an enterprise should innovate
In this module
Sources & Further Reading
- •Global Innovation Institute (GInI), Foundations of Innovation body of knowledge.
- •Pisano, G., "You Need an Innovation Strategy", Harvard Business Review, 2015.
- •Govindarajan, V. & Trimble, C., The Other Side of Innovation, 2010.
- •Birkinshaw, J., "The Innovation Theatre Trap", commentary & research.