Generate Higher Returns from Your Innovation Investments: 6 of 10

One way to establish market differentiation is through the introduction of innovative new products. Establishing that differentiation is one thing, but maintaining it is quite another. Here we have put together a ten part series on how to generate higher returns from your innovation investments. From our series of highly informational articles, companies will learn: how to treat innovation as a cross-functional business process, how to align innovation execution and business strategy; how to create sustainable innovation; how to train your senior executives to successfully execute innovation initiatives; how to effectively manage process and project management; how to measure performance of your processes; how to ensure broad stakeholder buy-in; how to understand the importance of product roadmaps; how to provide the tools necessary for successful product innovation; and finally, how to ensure that portfolio management coincides with process management. Here is one of the ten practices that leading innovators use to increase the payback from innovation spending: Measuring Performance of Your Processes.nnPerformance: Does your process measure up?nPortfolio metrics are important. But process metrics are the leading indicators that enable a company to assess the business impact of innovation. Process metrics measure how well a particular innovation initiative is performing against key process adoption criteria. For instance, you should tally which process deliverables have been completed and which are no longer required or are incomplete in order to determine the rate of actual execution and innovation process use. This type of measurement is particularly important given the alarming frequency with which innovation processes fail simply because the intended users don’t adopt them. By tracking process adoption patterns across the organization, you can identify and investigate usage issues immediately, and make adjustments across the system to increase process efficiency and efficacy. A recent study indicated that more than half of senior corporate executives are dissatisfied with the returns their organizations are generating from investments in innovation. However, some organizations are realizing as much as forty to sixty percent more revenue and profit from new products than their industry peers. How do these companies differ? For additional information on the top practices that leading innovators implement in their business to increase their returns on innovation spending, look for our next article from this ten-part series: Ensuring Broad Stakeholder Buy-In.