The Innovation Ecosystem

Innovation at certain core points in the value chain has a bigger impact on the value created as compared to other peripheral points. These core points in the value chain are called innovation Hotspots.

- Sanjiv Narang

For an organisation, generating innovation cannot be a mere flash in the pan. Each and every innovation has a lifetime during which it delivers its value, and subsequently, declines into oblivion. Therefore, organisations in competitive markets such as FMCG and Automobiles demand a continuous stream of innovation to generate a persistent stream of newer values for customers. However, innovating at a steady frequency remains wishful thinking for most organisations. And, it is something that most of them seek out, but hardly achieve in their lifespan. This is owing to the fact that a steady stream of innovation is possible only if the organisation has a culture of innovation which is impossible unless the organisation has an innovation Ecosystem.

A non-accidental Ecosystem

Innovation Ecosystems are not accidental. They are conscious organisational creations which believe that not innovating is simply a prescription for suicide. In a world of technological transformations and paradigm shifts, and continual shifting of the parameters of competition, it becomes imperative for an organisation to outrun or out-innovate its competition if it wants to grow. Without an Innovation Ecosystem, the possibility of the organisation out innovating its competition, is nothing more than a pipe dream. Let us look at the need for innovation Ecosystems from another angle which emerges after mapping the success and failure pattern of multiple organisations engaged in the target of innovating at a faster pace.