Innovation 💡 – The Key to Survival

An organization’s economic viability is directly linked with its capability to innovate, irrespective of the scale and complexity of its business. Innovation helps in optimizing the maximum value from organizational processes, resulting in continual improvement and growth. Organizations are required to develop the skill of timely predicting the changing circumstances in the business world, understanding the evolving market trends, and responding with right solutions to meet or exceed the expectations of all stakeholders. This requires leveraging the competence and creativity of employees, which I highlighted earlier in an article on importance of managing the Organizational Knowledge.

It is important to understand that innovation requires a management systems approach and it needs to be at the centre of the organization’s business model. A structured approach to innovation helps in adequately transforming an idea into a new solution or introducing a value-adding change to an existing process. This also equips organizations with the much-needed resilience to sustain through ever-increasing business disruptions and uncertainties.

According to a study by McKinsey, 84% of executives agree that innovation is important to their organization’s growth strategy. A survey conducted by Accenture reported that 93% of executives believe that the long-term success of their organization depends on their ability to innovate and 70% placed innovation among their company’s top five priorities. 

In successful organizations, innovation is engraved into the corporate ecosystem where each employee has a role to play in the innovation lifecycle.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a set of standards that provide organizations with a framework for managing innovation in a systematic manner. Intertek recently hosted a webinar on ISO 56002 standard, during which we discussed how an Innovation Management System enables organization to set its strategic direction for innovation and establish the processes required to achieve the intended results. This webinar is now available on request.  Moreover, an instructor-led training course can also be provided to have a detailed orientation on ISO 56002 Innovation management system standard.

At Intertek, innovation is part of our organizational DNA. Our history of 135 years is a testimony of how we have pioneered the art of envisaging the needs of our clients and introducing bold innovations ahead of our competitors. Our approach to innovation is multi-tiered, where we do not only look for breakthrough innovations and ground-breaking solutions, but we also continue to strengthen our core products and services while introducing new solutions in adjacent segments to expand into promising markets. Here are few recent examples of how Intertek has anticipated the requirements of the current, yet constantly evolving circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced a diversified range of innovations to support the emerging needs of our customers.

Have you thought about managing innovation in your organization in a systematic manner? Intertek is here to help! Our ISO 56002 based training and auditing solutions can assist your organization in establishing a robust Innovation Management System. Write to us now at ba.marketing.sa@intertek.com.