Companies, like any living organism, must become learning organizations that change and adapt to suit their changing business environment. The constant formation of new units within a corporation is one means of gearing up to change.

To determine the improvements to make in response to the change, you should continuously:

• partner with customers, listen to their feedback, and

• study new technology opportunities.

Changes – the Source of Opportunities

Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs. Doing new things, or doing old things in new ways is how entrepreneurs exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. Entrepreneurs see change as the norm and as healthy; they always search for change, respond to it, and exploit it as an opportunity.

Innovation can be approached methodically, by a purposeful and organized search for changes and by identifying the opportunities that such changes might offer. In your search, focus on opportunities, not problems, these changes can bring along. Results come from exploiting opportunities, not solving problems.

Entrepreneurship as a Continuous Source of Innovation

Many people equate entrepreneurship with an individual and his or her startup company. However, establishing entrepreneurial small business in a big organization has become very popular in today's rapidly changing and complex world.

Many organizations,  willing to exploit the benefits of new product/service development as internal ventures, will need to change their mindset, redefine their concept of organization and loose controls in order to expand their capacity for speed. Mastering of the new business systems approach to managing projects aimed at development of innovative products and services will help corporations to move with speed to capitalize on emerging technology and market opportunities.

DOs and DON'Ts of a Successful Innovator

By: Peter Drucker

DOs: Start small – try to do one specific thing...

DON'Ts: Don't undershoot, or you will simply create an opportunity for competition

Managing for Results

To achieve results, you should develop a solid, sound, customer-focused, and entrepreneurial strategy, aimed at market leadership, based on innovation, and tightly focused on decisive opportunities.

Road-Mapping

The goal of the road-mapping is to develop the innovation strategy – to choose and do the right things. The goal of innovation management is to implement this strategy well.

Road-mapping leads to effective project portfolio development and management. It provides for company-wide technological strategy development and technology assessment, as well as division-level project evaluation and strategic aligning. Road-mapping tools provide also a common language for innovation and building bridges between technologists and business managers within your corporation, and with you major suppliers and customers... More