A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

Carine Deslee
There are therefore Participative Innovations that contribute to the strategic issues of the SNCF and
that solve key problems that had not yet solved by other approaches. Some ideas of innovations can
become part of an exploratory research projects to further the validity of the idea and other potential
development even if it is relatively exceptional. These cases of innovations can be analysed through
the sub-process of creating strategic competence concerning management of waste and ecoinnovations.
Some managers can have a key role in the development of these innovations, which is
exposed in the next section.
4.2 The roles of stakeholders groups in the sub-process of defining competence
In table 4, we analyse for two innovations described above the sub-process of defining strategic
competence followed regarding the roles of different stakeholder groups. The example of case 1 is
not developed because it was not possible to encounter the different actors in this process.
Table 4: The roles of stakeholder groups in the sub-process of defining competence for two cases of
innovation
The roles of different stakeholder
groups
The decisions to acquire new assets or
new skills are taken at the operational level
by managers who are experimenting with
new solutions to problems.
Based on their knowledge of the strategic
context of the organization, the middlemanagers
are able to assess the long-term
implications of experiments, and they
become advocates for the best
opportunities to top management.
Top managers have the most complete
understanding of the strategic context,
which allows them to assess the
opportunities emerging from the
organization and train new skills, in
ratifying these initiatives that have the
greatest potential for meeting the
challenges future.
When the available resources increase,
the top management is able to redefine the
formal strategy and pursue new
opportunities and thus raise the level of
basic knowledge.
Analysis of observed innovations
Case 2 : " At the time, starting from the idea,
the regular supplier of compressors had
delivery problems that could lead to
shortages of parts and therefore of
maintenance backlogs "
Case 3 : As part of its mission agent's yard,
an innovator had the idea of " slotting " the
brakes ways to reduce noise.
Case 2 : The rules have been prescribed at
certain stages of development of innovation
around by the team of innovators. In
particular, they test their innovation on TGV
trains in circulation even if no authority had
been formally obtained. The development of
this innovation took place over several years
in a maintenance team.
Case 3 : The innovator was fortunate to be
spotted by the Direction of Research and
Innovation. Different supports were made
available to the innovator in accordance with
his superiors to develop this innovation.
Case 2: This innovation has resulted in a
patent application and should contribute to
the development of an ecological driving
called SNCF 'green driving'.
Case 3. This innovation gives rise to the filing
of a Soleau envelope in august 2002 and a
patent in 2004. This innovation is part of the
research program on noise reduction.
For each of these innovations emerging from actors without hierarchical position, middle management
intervened to facilitate the development of innovation even if it thrived against prescribed practices.
Before reaching the inversion of standards, innovation has to face the established order (Alter, 1995).
It took in these cases several years before they can fully develop.
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