A Proposal for a Standard With Innovation Management System

The Role of Planning In Innovation Success: Experience of
Leading Polish Enterprises
Magdalena Jurczyk – Bunkowska
Opole University of Technology, Opole, Poland
m.jurczyk@po.opole.pl
Abstract: The article describes the role of planning in managing innovation processes; proper management is
the key to final success. It was presented basing on the practices of Polish leading innovative enterprises. The
research was in a form of semi-structured interviews with managers involved in innovation processes within those
enterprises. The interviews were conducted directly according to a questionnaire and a fixed question list which
was developed and specified during the conversations. This form of research enabled thorough analysis of the
applied management techniques of at least several innovation processes in every company. Only successful
cases were taken into consideration however their scope was very miscellaneous: new products, radical changes
in manufacturing technology or in machine upgrade or in innovations improving customer service. Their common
feature is success defined as a visible influence on company’s development gained through implemented
innovation. The aim of the research was the management analysis of these kinds of processes and to define
whether they were planned and how. It was also determined how managers link innovation process planning with
its final success. All the findings were presented, analyzed and discussed and they led to elaborating the initial
model of innovation process planning. The model is basing on two main assumptions resulting from the
conducted research. The first one deals with distinguishing three categories of innovation processes which
characterize particular management approach. The second assumption is directly related to innovation process
planning; it indicates the necessity of successive process planning together with its progress. This also is
connected with high uncertainty degree of particular actions and frequent non-linear innovation process course.
Thus a three-stage planning model was suggested, the stages give more details about previously made
assumptions. This approach enables setting the innovation direction and therefore is the basis for carrying out
the remaining managing functions. The uncertainty degree is decreasing along with every stage of innovation
process, hence the decision making process was also included. Conclusions refer to how the suggested planning
approach is linked with innovation success.
Keywords: innovation management, innovation process, planning, innovation success
1. Introduction
Innovation is a purposeful and positive change thus a way to success for every company (Cainelli,
2006) (Roberts, 2001). Innovations may take various forms; the differences are most frequently in
terms of novelty and design aspects. A company can develop not only through innovative products
but also through innovation processes of manufacturing or products distribution, etc. (Tanaka, 2005).
Every example may be characterized by a different novelty degree evaluated in world or national
scale or even the scale of a branch and enterprise (Calantone, 2006). Innovations may also be
considered in the aspects of effects they would have after hitting the present market: disruptive,
sustainable (Christensen, 1997) or continuous, dynamically continuous, and discontinuous in
consumer’s reception (Robertson, 1971). The implementation effects of particular innovation
categories may be observed thanks to the previously mentioned classification. However they do not
form the basis for creating rational concepts of managing the whole range of actions where innovation
is in the hands of the user. Such processes are challengeable for the managers therefore the decision
is not easy and obvious. Even though innovation is regarded as an important competitive factor, the
majority of Polish enterprises rarely implements innovation processes. It is mostly due to their
uncertainty degree and risk which come along with every innovation process, more than in any other
business process. O'Sullivan (2009) enumerates the most frequent innovation failures that result from
those factors:
� Poor goal definition
� Poor alignment of actions to goals
� Poor participation in teams
� Poor monitoring of results
� Poor communication and sense of community
It shows that innovation management directly influences its success or failure.
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