Innovation in Manufacturing

Good friend Mr. Tony Tsai passes along "The Manufacturing Institute – Accenture: Innovation Roundtable Report" here. Practices called out as common among the participants of the roundtable for the report:

• Focus on more structure, less serendipity
• Evaluate multiple innovation dimensions
• Bring greater discipline to managing innovation portfolios
• Cultivate innovation in people

It is a good report for tenured and seasoned corporate managers now assigned the task of running innovation organizations. Lots of good material in the survey conducted for direct application to their strategies.

I have stated before that - "Satiated people do not innovate". For me, the report seems to have focused more on corporate innovation organizations and associated portfolios. Breakthrough innovation remains the domain of the entrepreneur while incremental innovation is the approach of the corporate, something that has to be converted to a process for measurement. Both have to exist, neither should try to act as the other!