The Innovation Landscape 2009 – Henra Mayer
The second annual Innovation Summit held in August this year was once again a resounding success. Approximately a 100 people representing the triple helix (being academia, government and business) attended. With your continuous input and support I am sure it is going to grow from strength to strength.
On registration for the summit, delegates were asked to fill out a registration form and questionnaire so that a picture about innovation in South Africa could be painted. The questionnaire also intended to shape the themes of future summits.
A significant number of delegates completed the on-line questionnaire. Questions were asked about innovation practises and challenges as well as about reasons for innovating, amongst other things. The majority of respondents by far said that they focus on innovation enablement practises and that an innovation strategy is definitely part of their general innovation management approach.
By interpreting the results received, one can deduct that the innovation landscape, as sketched by the delegates who attended the Summit, looks as follows:
The Enablement Platform
More than half stated that they have an innovation manager internal to the organisation (60%) and that a culture for innovation is prevalent in the organisation (64%). Areas in need of attention however were identified as innovation training (only 24% have active innovation training programmes in place) and the lack of an effective innovation management system.
The Reason for innovation
When asked about the major reason for innovation in their own environments, respondents indicated that it was mainly to save costs and to drive the introduction of new products. Graph 1 below displays the results obtained here.
Graph 1: The reason for innovation
Upon being asked what a fair salary should be for the innovation manager managing a budget of 1.5 million in an organisation of approximately 500-1500 employees, the majority indicated that they believed a salary of between 500 – 700K per annum was sufficient. But this amount grew with the size of the portfolio and the organisation. An innovation manager managing a budget of approximately 20 million should be receiving a remuneration package of between 900-1.1K Million per annum, respondents thought.
The Largest Challenges
The largest challenges facing organisations in terms of innovation were identified as the implementation of new ideas (48%) and effectively measuring innovation (48%). In close second place were establishing a culture for innovation (44%) and the funding of innovation activities (36%). See Graph 2 below.
Graph 2: Innovation Challenges
Innovation Timeframe
Most respondents indicated that they have been focusing on innovation for more than five years which shows that Innovation Management is not new to their organisations.
Graph 3: Innovation Timeframe
Are we Innovative?
According to the results received, innovation is not new in South Africa and therefore the general opinion about the degree of innovativeness of our organisations come as no surprise… yes, 69% of the respondents agreed that their organisations are being very innovative. (See Graph 4). The question is however, does this hold true for the majority of South African organisations? You be the judge.
In Conclusion
Innovation in the organisational context it seems, is alive and well in the country, or at least based on the opinion of the delegates who attended the second annual Innovation Summit. The most prominent challenges however still remain successful implementation, the establishment of a culture for innovation and effective innovation measurement.
Innovation strengths are prevalent by means of a willing innovation culture and strategic planning in terms of innovation, more attention can however be given to innovation training and the use of effective innovation management systems. I hope that the results as interpreted here help you gain perspective on your own innovation situation. May innovation in your organisation grow from strength to strength.
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