Defining Innovation
Innovation is the development of customer value through solutions that meet new, undefined, or existing market needs in unique ways. Solutions may include new or more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are more readily available to markets, governments, and society.
Innovation is easily confused with words like invention or improvement. They are, however, different terms. Innovation refers to coming up with a better idea or method, or integrating a new approach within a contextual model, while invention is more statically about creating something new. Innovation refers to to finding new ways to do things, while improvement is about doing the same thing more effectively.
Organizational Benefits of Innovation
From an organizational perspective, managers encourage innovation because of the value it can capture. Innovative employees increase productivity through by creating and executing new processes, which in turn may increase competitive advantage and provide meaningful differentiation. Innovative organizations are inherently more adaptable to the external environment; this allows them to react faster and more effectively to avoid risk and capture opportunities.
From a managerial perspective, innovative employees tend to be more motivated and involved in the organization. Empowering employees to innovate and improve their work processes provides a sense of autonomy that boosts job satisfaction. From a broader perspective, empowering employees to engage in broader organization-wide innovation creates a strong sense of teamwork and community and ensures that employees are actively aware of and invested in organizational objectives and strategy. Managers who promote an innovative environment can see value through increased employee motivation, creativity, and autonomy; stronger teams; and strategic recommendations from the bottom up.
Managers can accomplish this through providing top-down support to employees, providing clear roles and responsibilities while allowing individuals the freedom to pursue these as they see fit. Supporting the HR and IT departments so that they can provide training and tools for higher employee efficiency can contribute substantially to a culture of internal innovation. This requires open-minded and motivational leaders in managerial positions who are capable of steering employee efforts without diminishing employee creativity.