Innovation can be managed

It further emphasises the creation and management of knowledge. It recognises that creativity is built upon combining thoughts into something new. It therefore highlights the importance of knowledge management.

People

The organisation has to determine how to get involvement and commitment from its people who have to be able to network across boundaries and be encouraged to use their full potential. It is also important that there are communication channels between the layers to ensure employees have an opportunity to identify and get sponsors for any of their initiatives.

The organisation has to consider how people are rewarded for participating in the innovation process. This assessment should be wider than just the people who are directly involved with innovation projects. It includes all behaviours that impact on an innovative culture like sharing information and giving constructive feedback. It also includes determining how to encourage individuals’ creativity and at the same time reinforce the need to work as a team to be successful. Some research claims that innovation is more likely to thrive if the culture relies more heavily on intrinsic rewards than extrinsic rewards.

It is important to realise that thinking skills are something that can be improved. The development of, for instance, lateral thinking skills should be included in personal development plans.

The organisation has to think through how to acquire knowledge for the future. It needs to develop existing staff as well as acquire knowledge from the outside to ensure core competencies are developed for the future.

It is proven that employees who feel healthy and full of energy will be more creative and able to apply discretionary effort

Customer and Market Focus

It is through understanding the customers and the markets that the organisation can come up with innovative solutions that provide value to the customers.

The majority of an organisation’s innovation initiatives will impact the external customers. In fact, a large proportion of the innovation initiatives have the external customers as the main focus. This category is therefore very important to innovative organisations. The ABEF requires an organisation to focus on understanding the needs and expectations of present and potential customers and markets. It is about creating a future for the customer. Many innovations were never requested by customers, but as soon as they experienced them, they could appreciate their value. Good understanding of the customers and their environments are pivotal for estimating customers reaction to an innovation they had never thought of.

The ABEF highlights the importance of good customer relationship management. It believes frequent customer contact and thorough understanding of the customer’s world will assist the organisation in coming up with innovative initiatives. It involves being able to "walk in the customers shoes" and understand the total experience in interacting with your organisation and its product and services. This is supported by many researchers like Leonard and Rayport (1997).

Involving customers in the organisation innovation initiatives will also assist in achieving customer focused innovations. Involving customers early in the process will also speed up the commercialisation process.

ABEF further emphasis the importance of being able to measure customer perception to learn about the customers’ views and to focus future innovation initiatives.

Processes, Products and Services

An effective and efficient innovation process is critical to any organisation that wants to be innovative. This process allows employees to know how they can get ideas progressed and how their potential is evaluated.