INNOVATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A NECESSITY FOR

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Abstract: The research carried out in this article deals with identifying and analyzing the existing models of
innovation management systems. The research in this paper is conducted in such a manner that it can be read
and apply by everyone, regardless of his / her knowledge of innovation management. From the analyses of the
main models of innovation management systems, found in the literature, a series of common aspects resulted.
Although the importance of innovation is predictable, the interesting question is how to achieve excellence in
managing innovation. As the review of the literature, there are no easy answers to this question as there are no
shortcuts to excellent results. Successful companies do not have a silver bullet innovative - they do not get results
by one or a few things better than others. They make everything better.

Keywords: innovation management system, business performance, innovation, business success.

1. Introduction
The global economy undoubtedly creates profound and significant for organizations worldwide. The market is
changing ever more rapidly, evolving technologies and the only thing that seems to be truer now than ever, it is
changing.
According to the well-known scientist Peter Drucker every organization - not just the business - needs a core
competence: innovation. The concept of innovation defines in a synthetic way the introduction of the new.
Actions with this purpose belong in human life not from yesterday or today, finding and introducing the new
representing the main factors that determined the evolution of mankind throughout its entire existence (Popescu,
2016). Innovation was defined as the creative process by which new products, services or production processes
are developed for a business unit (Garcia, 2002; Haider, 2004 Matias, 2005; Mckeown, 2008; Mitussis, 2010).
Innovation provides the mechanism for a company to grow faster, better and smarter than its competitors and
may allow its direction (Oster, 2010). From the point of view of managers, the main purpose of innovation is to
introduce change in the organization to create new opportunities or exploit existing ones (Wicks, 2004; Wu,
2008; Sisay, 2010).
Innovation assumes no secret formulas, but a well done management. Given the fact that the economic
environment becomes increasingly more dynamic with a specific behavior of complex systems, nonlinear and
adaptive, a new challenge raises to the organizations: innovation as a crucial part of everyday activities. If some
time ago, quality and productivity were the key - elements to ensure the competitiveness of an organization,
today and even more in the future - achieving this objective involves adding to the competitiveness equation of a
new parameter called innovation. Innovation is considered to be the growth engine of an organization (Brad,
2006b; Vlachaki, 2010).
Innovating today will be easier to innovate tomorrow (Anthony, 2005; Leavy, 2010). Attention of many top
executives is largely focused on the urgent problems of daily management, innovation is often pushed aside
although it is considered an important issue, and it does not have the same priority as other more pressing
matters. When a management team becomes aware of the need for innovation, it identifies a number of
challenges that they must face in order to innovate.
These reflections usually address issues such as: the need to protect innovation potential threats that could
prevent the company from renewal; to be credible, innovation must produce consistent results. It cannot be a just
a onetime fortuitous contribution. Innovation must become permanent and rooted fits into the organizational
culture; to come up with new ideas requires a certain attitude (thinking big, observing more opportunities than
problems, etc.), which in many cases is the exact opposite of how people have been taught to think in the
corporate context.
In the course of industrial development, there were a number of attempts to impose some order conceptual in
analysis of the innovation process in order to understand the nature and conduct innovation activities and to
ensure a more secure formulation of policy innovation. In this regard there have been developed various models
of the innovation process by which it is possible to order our thinking on innovation.
The amplitude of innovation is reflected primarily in higher rates of development of new products and
technologies, but change is not just in the tangible things. In organizations, they are increasingly numerous the
innovation actions oriented on the management methods, organization and business configuration that contribute
to achieving sustainable competitive advantage. (Popescu 2016)
Because innovation covers both radical and incremental thinking in things, processes or services, most people do
not want to innovate in a systematic and comprehensive manner. However, progresses in science and technology
have brought a lot of benefits to society (Brad, 2008b). The way in which our society is built means that in many
cases the technologies are exploited in a wrong way (eg, military, political, cultural, intellectual, economic or
environmental). Modern society is at a point where crises happen with greater frequency and intensity.
Therefore, people today have no chance for sustainable development than to consider innovation as a driving
force.

2. The determinants factors of innovation

Innovation within the organization can have multiple embodiments, from assimilating new products or entering
on new markets to the development of complex changes in the business model. In all these cases, innovation is
not a simple event that occurs by itself, it imply conducting of a process of changing that involve the exercise of
leadership.
The effects of innovation on the organization depend on how the project is done each shift, and the ability of
management to achieve their integration into a coherent strategy (Popescu 2016). It can be said that "innovation
management is a leadership complex task, which through its strategic and operational elements causes a
systematic process of change" (Tripon).
Successful management of innovation implies a strategic approach both of the innovation and also of the issues
related to its management, it involves the use of the effective implementation mechanisms and structures, it
requires the development of an organizational culture that supports innovation and also involves maintenance
and development of effective external links (Maier, 2014).
By analyzing the literature a series of key determinants for innovation can be identified. In most studies these
determinants can be: common vision, culture and values in terms of innovation; cooperation strategy for
innovation; individual and organizational commitment to innovation; appropriate structures and systems to
match the innovation process; human and financial resources; information management and exchange between
partners; customer focus and feedback; collaboration and creativity in teamwork; autonomy and accountability;
visionary leadership to promote strategic alliances; achieve excellence through innovation continuous
improvement; education and training.
In order to be a strategy to achieve performances innovation must be supported by the organizational
infrastructure. This includes its areas of interest, its objectives, strategy, management performance and support
for introduction innovation. Changing organizational culture and mentality can be very difficult, but not
impossible. The tools for managing innovation can be defined as a set of tools, techniques, and methodologies to
support innovation process and to help companies cope with new knowledge challenges. The contribution
innovation must be managed and protected. Knowledge management is concerned with identifying, translating,
sharing and exploitation of knowledge within an organization.
Among core responsibilities of top management is the part of development of an organizational culture that
allows promoting and supporting the innovation, the involving and the rewarding of the staff. Such an
organization culture can be named an innovation culture, and its importance, as shown in Figure 1, is given by
the major role played in the success of the innovation benefits for the organization.
 Figure 1. The importance of developing an innovation culture (Source: Kasper, 2008)

Organizational culture is considered in the literature as one of the factors that may stimulate innovative behavior
among members of the organization. It influence employee behavior; it can lead to acceptance of innovation as a
core value of the organization (Hanna, 2006). Leaders should promote innovation in an organizational culture
within the organization, being personally involved in the establishment and implementation of clear and relevant
ways to support innovation. Management is particularly important in the context of innovation, both the nature
of innovation and achieving this plan must be communicated clearly and repeatedly. Leaders must have a vision
for innovation and be able to share it (Brad, 2006a; Brad, 2006b).
The potential sources for innovation are influenced by many factors, among the most important are: economic -
industry structure and market: rapid growth, inadequate segmentation, changes in manufacturing methods, global
change; social changes in the perception of things; analysis of various problems: discrepancies between reality
and preconceived opinions, changing paradigms, analyze failures, redefine problems etc.; technology -
combining the solutions already verified: analysis of how competitors have managed to achieve business
partnerships; political - changes in national and regional legislation.

3. Models of Innovation Management System

Innovation is considered a key factor for the success of organizations in this technical specification, which aims
to guide organizations toward implementing, developing and maintaining a framework for innovation
management. The result of establishing an innovation management system will enable organizations to become
more innovative and more successful products, services, processes and innovative business model of its own.
The importance of innovation is well known by the researchers and various models of innovation management
systems were developed. A model that highlights the innovation issues associated to top management is
presented in Figure 2 (Kotelnikov), detailing the following three components: setting strategy and objectives
relating to innovation, creating the framework for achieving innovation, providing resources. Also, the scheme
emphasizes the importance of informal elements for successful change projects, summarized in the phrase
"organizational culture". Innovation processes enshrined in the central part of the figure are those that contribute
directly to the introduction of the new, through specific activities of R & D and innovation.
A system for managing innovation, according to the CEN / TS 16555-1: 2013 consists of the activities needed to
generate innovations continuously, regardless of organization size. A look conceptual innovation management
system described in this technical specification is shown in Figure 3.
The innovation management system shows the block distinct requirements associated with top management,
under the generic name "Leadership for Innovation". In the chapter on this component, CEN/TS 16555-1
includes requirements for establishing the vision and innovation strategy; ensuring human and other resources
for the system to work, develop a culture that supports innovation.

Figure 2. A model of innovation management system (Source: Kotelnikov)

The standard also refers to resources, collaborative policies, intellectual property and knowledge management,
defined as supporting processes. The processes that contribute directly to achieving results through exploitation
or capitalization of new ideas are presented separately. From the figure it is seen that the deployment of these
processes is made in the same logic as the continuous improvement, specific to the modern management,
consisting in making repeated verification phases-planning-execution-improvement. This sequence is known as
PDCA - short for Plan-Do-Check-Act (ISO 9001).

Figure 3. Innovation management system (IMS) (Source: CEN/ TS 16555-1)

The requirements of the CEN / TS 16555-1 standard underlies the implementation of a management system that
helps organizations to continuously improve their innovation capacity and performance. Specific requirements of
each organization is materializing: activities, resources and organization, methods and tools used in the
management of innovation differs depending on the scope of activity, size, organization, resources available and
other particular aspects of the organization.
The successful implementation of innovation management system, proposed by the technical specification CEN /
TS 16555-1: 2013 is given by the organization's ability to respond to internal and external conditions that
influence the innovation capacity. All these have an impact on the results of the innovation process, thus
defending the need for analysis and evaluation of the results that may lead to development of methods to
improve and better planning of future innovation processes.
The success of an innovation management system consists of the deployment model. A model is needed to make
progress in every area because it offers a set of principles to understand and apply. Most organizations adopt a
methodology for innovation without having a solid model, this can only lead to an accidental innovation.
Another model of innovation management system useful for all types of organizations, whether large or small,
public or private is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Innovation management system (IMS) (Source: Maier, 2012)

This framework aims to cover all components of a business system that can help identify the true performance in
an organizational unit. In this context, the existing model can be seen as a range of tools, techniques and
methodologies to help companies adapt to market circumstances and challenges in a systematic way. To develop
and apply systems, they have to answer to some stakeholders (eg customers, company, employees) to achieve
certain levels of performance.
In order to achieve the overall efficiency of innovation it is necessary to divide the complex field of innovation,
existing in an organization, the parts which are interconnected in a specific way leading to innovation
performance, these parts are: innovation in vision and policy, strategic innovation, innovation in the development
of networks, development of human resources for innovation, process innovation, product innovation, marketing
innovation and administration innovation.
4. Results of analysis the innovation management systems
The research has identified that a strategic approach to the innovation process primarily involves a proactive
attitude regarding internal organizational characteristics of the environment and the external environment that is
in constant change
To become an organization's competitive advantage, innovation must go beyond isolated actions phase.
Innovation Management defines a new management paradigm, characterized by the systematic innovation based
on specific rules and methods. Theoretical and practical studies on innovation approach resulted in the
development of models for innovation management systems. From the results of their analysis a series of
conclusions can be drown.
A first conclusion is that achieving innovation in organizations is not accidental; innovation is a process that can
be driven. Another conclusion is that innovation management is the modern approach to innovation, which
ensures the realization of continuous innovation flows. Innovation management involves a series of innovation
management processes, structures, resources and methods that define innovation management system. An
interesting conclusion is that innovation management assumes that the organization always repeats the next cycle
of actions (PDCA mechanism): To determine the direction they should go, that is to draw a clear strategy;
Implement appropriate structures, processes and procedures for research, development and innovation; To carry
out the strategy established by initiating projects for change and ensure the necessary resources for innovation;
Monitor the activities, measure and continuously improve the innovation. And in the end the top management
plays a decisive role in creating the system and the systematic innovation.

5. Conclusions
The more intense competitiveness the more innovative companies are, due to continued momentum to
remain on the market to come up with something new and thus to overcome competition.
Although the innovation process is one of the most important factors behind today's global economic growth and
prosperity, it is still poorly understood. Over the last century, industry leaders have learned to master the
production process to such an extent that it no longer functions as a significant competitive advantage. The new
challenge is to master the innovation process - making a change, creating new competitive advantages by
offering better products, using better processes, providing better services or even offering entirely new solutions.
A successful implementation of the innovation in any organization is essential in bringing that added value, or
that extra value so that it can develop and remain competitive in todays harsh economic climate.

References
Anthony, S., Christensen, C. (2005) Innovation Handbook: A Road Map to Disruptive Growth, The Road to
Disruption, Harvard Business School Publishing
Brad, S. (2006b), Manualul de Baz al Managerului de Produs n Ingineria i Managementul Inovaiei, Ed.
Economic, Bucureti
Garcia, R., Calantone, R. (2002), A Critical Look at Technological Innovation Typology and Innovativeness
Terminology: A Literature Review, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 19, Nr. 2, pp. 110-
32
Haider, M., Kreps, G. (2004), Forty years of diffusion of innovations: utility and value in public health, Journal
of Health Communication, Vol. 9, Nr. 1, pp. 3-11
Kasper, G., Clohesi, S.(2008), Intentional Innovation: How Getting More Systematic about Innovation Could
Improve Philanthropy and Increase Social Impact, W.K Kellogg Foundation
Kotelnikov, V., Innovation-friendly organization, the key components,
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/innovation_aweorg.html (accesat 21 iulie 2015)
Leavy, B. (2010), Design thinking a new mental model of value innovation, Strategy &Leadership, Vol. 38, pp.
5 14
Maier, A. (2014), Cercetri i contribuii la dezvoltatea modelelor de management al inovrii, Universitatea
Tehnic, Cluj- Napoca, 2014
Maier, A., Brad, S., Fulea, M, Nicoar, D., Maier, D. (2012), A proposed innovation management system
Framework - A solution for organizations aimed for obtaining performance, International Conference
on Management, Business, Economics and Finance, 28-29 November 2012, Paris, France, World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, Special Issue 71, International Journal of Social and
Human Sciences, p. 1581- 1585, ISSN 2010- 376X/ ISSN 2010- 3778, 2012, indexat Scopus, EBSCO
Maier, D., Irmer S,J, Astrid F, Maier A, (2017), Development and Operationalization of a Model of Innovation
Management System as Part of an Integrated Quality-Environment-Safety System, Amfiteatru
Economic Journal, Volume: 19, No. 44/2017, pp 302-314
Matias, H., C, Coelho, D., A. (2006), Innovation in the Organisation of Management Systems as a Means of
Survival and Growth of SMEs
Mckeown, M. (2008), The Truth about Innovation, Pearson Financial Times Mitussis, 2010
Oster, G. (2010), Characteristics of emergent innovation, Journal of Management Development, Vol.29, Nr. 6,
pp. 565-574
Popescu, Maria (2016), Managementul Inovrii, Ed. Universitii Transilvania, Braov, I S B N 9 7 8 - 6 0 6 - 1
9-07595
Sisaye, S. (2010), Organizational development and transformational learning approaches in process
innovations, Review of Accounting and Finance, Vol. 9, Nr. 4, pp. 337-362
Vlachaki, E. (2010), Marketing Innovation Measurement, Master of Management in Business Innovation and
Technology
Wicks, D. (2004), Older adults and their information seeking, Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, Vol. 22,
Nr. 2, pp. 1-26
Wu, H., (2008), When does internal governance make firms innovative?, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 61,
pp. 141153
*** CEN/ TS 16555-1: 2013 Innovation Management, part 1 Innovation Management System