Infusing Innovation Into Organizations : A Systems Engineering Approach

This book shows how to systemically move a mature organization towards enhanced innovation performance. The systems approach offers two key benefits. First, it involves systematic analysis of problems encountered and their potential solutions to increase innovation. The second benefit is that the systems approach offers a holistic solution, through providing infrastructure and cultural support to an innovative workforce. The approach connects every participant in the organizational chain, and allows for the creation of systemic change that can influence the behavior of the whole system.

Foster a Culture of Innovation inside Your Organization

Introducing a new approach that blends the practical applications of engineering with innovative concepts and techniques, Infusing Innovation into Organizations: A Systems Engineering Approach illustrates how a company’s culture influences innovation results and demonstrates how organizations can successfully create, explore, and test ideas. The book outlines an innovation framework representing a "systemic" approach that works within an organization’s culture (or context). It describes the principles and practices of innovation, relates these principles to systemic practices and the culture of a research and development organization, and incorporates innovation initiatives that can revitalize the performance of an organization.

The book utilizes numerous case studies that help determine what makes an organization more likely to produce innovative products and ideas. Providing relevant background and a description for each case study, it details innovative activity, innovative impact, and the characteristics and features of each innovation. It also describes the principles and practices of innovation and relates these principles to systemic practices and culture in a research and development organization.

Using systems engineering processes to apply innovation to operations, the authors:

• Describe general initiatives that have been, and could be, considered to address the principles of innovation in the context of an innovation framework
• Outline some indicators of effectiveness that can be used to implement a systemic organization-wide program
• Explain the linear and non-linear processes of design thinking (includes key methods and tools, and provides illustrative case studies)
• Offer an understanding of how to integrate problem-solving and underlying methods and tools into your organization

introduces a systemic approach that supports an innovative culture and describes novel approaches to addressing problems using creative, viable solutions. This book serves undergraduate and graduate-level professors and students in systems engineering as well as managers and consultants working in systems analysis and design.