The Need and Tools for Successful Innovation

Innovation is not a new concept, but the extent to which it is used is. Economies are shifting from industrial based to knowledge based innovation. Innovation has been effectively applied to product and manufacturing process innovation, but with the growth of innovation, more focus is being applied to improve management of innovation and information to effectively introduce the volume of innovation. This includes processes and tools used to manage innovation. Finally innovation is being applied to all areas and operations of businesses. Application of innovation to all parts of a business has been recognized as a crucial element to remain competitive. This report examines some of the important components of innovation, works through an innovation case study at Daimler Trucks North America, and examines the potential application of Hierarchy Decision Method and the Kepner/Tregoe Decision Analysis method for innovation decision making. The literature reviewed has revealed that innovation management techniques are growing and the characteristics of innovation management are becoming clearer. For companies to survive, core innovation is a must, adjacent innovation is strongly recommended for company growth, and transformational innovation, the riskiest of the three, brings the largest financial rewards. It is important to establish initiative priorities, especially in the core and adjacent innovations were there are typically more initiatives than available resources. To that end, the Hierarchical Decision Method and Kepner/Tregoe Decision Analysis are effective methods to establish innovation initiative priorities