In today’s environment, mature organizations are facing extreme levels of risk and uncertainty, due to external events such as the effects of COVID and geopolitical unrest. Under these circumstances they operate to minimize risk, and as a result are caught in the web of short termism and incrementalism to maintain competitive advantage in their current markets. Yet this approach does not produce generative growth and leaves the organization vulnerable to red oceans and eventual disruption.
Typically, company leaders address this conundrum by investing to develop an innovative culture, oftentimes with disappointing results for breakthrough new business opportunities. Although inventors and intrapreneurs can benefit from the resources, experience, financial assets and networks of the large company, they are constrained by its bureaucratic practices. Over time, leaders come to realize that they need to develop organizational capabilities to create new platforms of business that will be their growth engines of the future. Historically, however, these efforts have produced uneven success. Cyclically, corporate leaders renew their desire for innovation beyond incremental new product development (i.e. strategic innovation) and focus attention on developing management systems that work with, rather than against innovative and intrapreneurial associates.
In this session, we will explore how strategic innovation differs from incremental innovation, and how companies can develop a capability for strategic innovation in order to avoid disruption and create their future. We focus at the organizational level rather than the individual project level. Our interest is in understanding how organizations can institutionalize capabilities for the more breakthrough innovation, which admittedly faces more uncertain outcomes, even within a dominant culture of operational excellence that pervades most large established firms.
We will examine these questions:
- What is Strategic Innovation and why do mature organizations need it?
- Why is it so difficult?
- What approaches have organizations tried and what are the advantages and shortcomings of each?
- What approach seems to work, why do we think it’s the answer, and why is it so difficult for companies to adopt?
- How is it accomplished? What steps can you take to advance that effort?
This session will be of interest to anyone who aspires to help a mature organization create its future through strategic innovation.
IRI members can earn a certificate of completion by completing this workshop and a short follow-on activity that highlights how they plan to apply their learning.
Registration Fees:
- IRI Members: $395
- Non Members: $495
Each IRI member company has two complimentary passes for this event.
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Due to limited seating, we request that you cancel at least 48 hours before a scheduled class. This gives us the opportunity to fill the class. However, if you do not cancel prior to the 48 hours, you will lose the payment for the class.
All IRI events are broadcast in Eastern Standard Time
