Module 2 - Strategic Innovation

Logically, this should have been the first module covered in the Innovation Summit. But, when did you ever attend a workshop that opened with a strategy discussion between folks that had never met before. Therefore, Module 1 hopefully has given us all a common footing and a start on group thinking and group discussion and we are now ready for Module 2.

The relationship between productivity and innovation is a strong one. The actions that Corporate Officers and Leaders of R&D take and the decisions they make can have a drastic effect on R&D innovation and the type of output one gets from investing in R&D. Brad Goldense was the Subject Matter Expert for APQC's R&D Productivity Study that concluded in December 2004. Many of you may know APQC [http://www.apqc.org] by one of its organizations, "The International Benchmarking Clearinghouse." The 2004 study was focused on strategic drivers and measures of innovation processes. Five best practice partners were benchmarked by 15 participating sponsors, who also benchmarked themselves.

The study found a handful of strategic innovation and productivity drivers that are commonly wielded by the very top management of best practice companies to enable innovative environments and corporate cultures. Some drivers are hard and tangible and implementable. Other drivers are elusive and intangible and must be interwoven behind the scenes over a number of years into the fabric and infrastructure of the organization.

The goal of this module is to address innovation from the executive office, the top down, both what works and what doesn't work.