In business, buzzwords come and go. You’ll probably hear the word “innovation” thrown around in many industries—but what does it mean? Innovation describes the process by which businesses develop new ideas. These ideas can encompass new products or services, new marketing strategies, or new business models. They can be completely revolutionary or build and improve existing technologies and may even help reimagine an existing approach and reach better outcomes. Implementing a successful corporate innovation program is necessary for future growth.

Innovation is how businesses stay relevant in the face of competitive markets and constantly changing consumer tastes. Most executives – 97%, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers – agree that it should be their organization’s top priority. But nearly as many are dissatisfied with their current innovation processes.

How does identifying your corporate innovation process support future business goals?

Corporate innovation boils down to developing new ideas and bringing them to market. It is a crucial driver of growth for businesses, allowing them to develop new products, enter new markets, and better serve their customers. Identifying and understanding your corporate innovation process provides a framework for generating new ideas, assessing their potential, and enacting change for your products and services.

Additionally, it helps to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned on the innovation strategy and that resources are properly allocated so you can put new ideas into action, attract new customers, and generate more revenue.

Existing Structures and Hierarchies Must Support Creativity and Collaboration

Good, innovative ideas can come from anywhere, not just the executives. A clear corporate hierarchy is the framework that a business uses to organize itself. It outlines the roles and responsibilities of employees, and delineates the relationships between departments. In today’s corporate landscape, innovation is essential for success. As such, many companies are rethinking their hierarchies in order to better support creativity and collaboration.

While a traditional hierarchy can foster competition and individual achievement, it can also stifle creativity and collaboration. Flatter corporate structures that encourage employee input and networking across departments have become increasingly popular. A more open corporate structure may be better equipped to support ideas across workflows and lead a company to higher success.

Businesses Need to Have a Clear Sense of the Innovation Process or Strategy

Corporate innovation is essential for businesses to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive. However, this often is seen as a luxury that is only possible when times are good. The challenge for businesses is sustaining corporate innovation even when their teams are hard at work attaining new goals. This can be done by having a clear sense of strategy and organizational ethos centered around being an industry innovator. By clearly defining the parameters of corporate innovation, businesses can ensure that it remains a priority even when faced with budget constraints or downward trends.

Innovation is more than just creative ideas—it’s the ability to put those ideas into practice. Successful innovation requires an established process for nurturing those good ideas into functioning deliverables and implementing them. There must be a channel for suggesting new ideas, criteria for validating the idea’s feasibility, and an incubator for experimenting and refining the ideas. Accelerating innovation requires input from across departments, including research and development, management, finance and accounting, marketing, and operations and logistics. By prioritizing this approach, businesses can ensure that they are always leading their industry by example or finding better ways to operate day-to-day.

Gaining a Competitive Advantage

Corporate innovation is the process of introducing new products, services or processes into the market. It’s about thinking outside the box to find new opportunities to give your company a competitive advantage. The goal is to get ahead of the curve so you are bringing in new products or services before your current offerings start to fail. This can be a challenge because no one wants to disintermediate their current product when things are going well. But that is exactly the time to start thinking about it. With an early head start, businesses will have the time to formulate a response to changing trends and challenges, which makes it an essential piece to staying relevant in an ever-changing marketplace.

Getting Ahead of the Curve

Any investor will tell you that a certain amount of risk is necessary to reap any reward. This is especially true when it comes to corporate innovation. In order to stay ahead of the competition, businesses must continually introduce new products and services. But introducing something new also carries with it the risk of failure. The key is to strike a balance between taking risks and playing it safe. Companies are responsible for coming up with new ideas and then, bringing those ideas to fruition. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that is essential for any company that wants to stay ahead of the curve. By encouraging creativity and calculated risks, businesses can continue to grow and expand their product or service offerings.

Outsourcing Innovation

An outside company can bring a fresh perspective and bring diversity of thought. Professionals who don’t know the current business in detail suggest opportunities based on the view-point of all stakeholders, not just those in charge. This allows them to empathize as a consumer and bring new angles to employee problems. Internal product teams don’t want to disintermediate themselves with the potential of losing their jobs or incentives by launching a new product, but an outside company doesn’t have those concerns and is solely focused on finding the most beneficial results for their client.

Corporate innovation goes beyond coming up with new ideas, it is also about being realistic with your action plan and identifying obstacles to annual goals. Many companies are right on the cusp of their next operational breakthrough, but need an impartial partner to save them the time of handling challenges correctly and efficiently. Outsourcing corporate innovation can be an effortless way to attain their goals. By working with an experienced partner, companies can gain access to the latest thinking and technology, as well as a team of experts who are dedicated to making their vision a reality.

Key Takeaways:

• Many companies outsource corporate innovation in order to gain an outside-looking in approach, diversity of thought, and avoid disintermediation.
• By working with an experienced innovation partner, companies can gain access to the latest thinking and technology, as well as a team of experts who are dedicated to making their vision a reality.
• When it comes to corporate innovation, it is important to strike a balance between taking risks and playing it safe.
• Innovation requires flexibility. When a new idea presents itself, the company should be able to adjust its operation, production, and strategy accordingly.
• Corporate innovation is the process of developing new ideas and bringing them to market. It is a key driver of growth for businesses, as it allows them to develop new products, enter new markets, and better serve their customers.

Innovative Solutions

If your company is struggling to implement meaningful innovation, Go Studio can help. We are a comprehensive innovation studio here to help you keep your organization’s technology ahead of the curve.

We combine a lean startup model with enterprise-level assets to offer unique solutions to your technical challenges and help drive your business’s growth. Ready to get started today? Request an introduction.