Introduction


In 1993 we wrote Managing The Innovating Enterprise: Australian companies competing with the world s best . [ 1] This book was based on two years of research about the practical experiences of more than 100 businesses, of all sizes, operating in Australia. We were seeking to find what actions capable management had taken to build innovating enterprises as a response to the floating of the exchange rate and cutting of tariffs in the 1980s.

We learned a lot from this work. The fundamental lesson was about the practical nature of innovation in Australian businesses of all sizes, and especially small and medium- sized ones:

. . . Innovation in Australia in the 1990s is about people and enterprises, not about science and technology. For the vast majority of enterprises, science and technology are vital tools that need to be applied effectively and developed selectively. But for these enterprises, innovation is more a matter of flexible, productive and focused workplace relationships than it is a result of technological resources or the impact of science and science policies . . . Sustained success with innovation is largely the product of consistent, concentrated efforts by people in enterprise around five key factors: customers, supply, leadership, resources and systems for innovation. [ 2]

Although much has changed over the past decade , these conclusions are just as valid for Australian businesses today.

In this chapter we set out a practical approach for the chief executive (and team) of a medium-sized business to strengthen the organisational underpinnings that distinguish the innovating enterprise. By that we mean embedding in the business the ability to constantly focus on improvement, change, and the exploitation of new and significantly improved opportunities to create value.

We have chosen to focus on the medium-sized business because it is at this point in organisational growth that the chief executive must make some important changes to institutionalise the innovating enterprise. Most businesses in Australia are tiny, with fewer than ten employees . Chief executives of successful, innovative small businesses have learned how to build their businesses through their passion and drive to satisfy customers.

They have personally driven a set of ideas into a profitable business. Small has to grow into medium size by satisfying a wider range of customers and with a greater breadth of offerings. The chief executive must embed, systemically, their personal approach and passion throughout the growing organisation, using additional capital from financial markets. In short, they must build a whole- of-business system for innovation into the business.

Before we proceed, however, here are some key definitions:

  • Innovation . Something new or significantly different in a business that creates value directly to the business or indirectly through its customers.

  • Medium-sized business. A business ranging upwards in size from a market capitalisation of $20 million and more than 200 employees. Some of these businesses belong to larger organisations, most do not, and the differences are important in ways that we identify below.

  • Innovating enterprise . An organisation that systematically uses innovation in a highly systemic way throughout its business to successfully implement its business strategy.

[ 1] R Carnegie & M Butlin, Managing The Innovative Enterprise: Australian companies competing with the world s best , Business Council of Australia, Melbourne, 1993.

[ 2] Op. cit.




Innovation and Imagination at Work 2004
Innovation and Imagination at Work 2004
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 116

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