Setting up innovation processes correctly

Innovation is not an optional activity, but a must. This is the only way companies can stay one step ahead of their competitors in the long term. Radical innovations are the supreme discipline. Incremental innovations promise great potential for growth and corporate success, but also entail the highest level of risk and capital investment. We talked to Dr. Tanja Jovanovic, Head of Technology and Innovation Management at Bayern Innovativ GmbH, about how SMEs can optimize their innovation management.

Tanja, you have been head of the technology and innovation management consulting field at Bayern Innovativ since the beginning of 2020 - what does your typical working day look like?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: There is actually no such thing as a typical day, innovation thrives on change and the new. I experience something new every day, get new questions and new impulses. That's a good thing, too, when you have to deal with the wide range of topics related to innovation and get to work with different teams. In a nutshell: My team sees itself as a co-innovator at Bayern Innovativ.

What is a co-innovator?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: For me, a co-innovator is a team that dedicates itself to the topic of innovation together with others. My team is there to accompany colleagues and other networks at Bayern Innovativ when it comes to methodological knowledge in the field of innovation management. We share our professional know-how with colleagues and provide innovation impulses. We do this as co-innovators within the company as well as innovation coaches for external companies. We support the latter with the implementation of an innovation strategy, creativity workshops and topics such as mindset/innovation culture.

Why is it so important for companies to practice innovation management?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: There is no getting around the topic of innovation these days, and I don't think there is anyone out there who wouldn't want to work in an innovative company. Innovation is not just a buzzword, innovation is indispensable. We at Bayern Innovativ also want and need to challenge ourselves again and again in order to keep our finger on the pulse. We have seen in recent years - and especially this year - how fast change is progressing, how new framework conditions are changing entire industries.

Can you give an example?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: The automotive industry provides vivid examples. Daimler has been on the market for about 140 years, Uber with a new business model only for about ten years. Today, both achieve a market capitalization of a similar magnitude. The ever-increasing dynamism, the ever-shorter technology cycles are challenging us, and with them, customer needs are also changing. And serving them is what it's all about in the end.

What are your three personal top tips for companies that want to increase their innovation potential?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: In general, only those who increase and exploit their innovation potential can be successful in the long term. On the one hand, companies need to analyze what their status quo looks like, which processes and structures make sense from an innovation perspective and which vision, which goal should actually be pursued.

On the other hand, I advise becoming aware of the complexity and uncertainty of innovation processes. Many small steps are usually more effective than starting with a large mountain of tasks. In this way, you can also involve your employees and bring them along, which is a very central success factor for innovation.

And thirdly, I give the advice to focus on the customer - because in the end, the customer decides on the success or failure of an innovation.

Very important: Innovations are not created according to a "pattern". There are a variety of sources for innovations. Whether by chance or ideas from lengthy processes - in the end, creativity is a decisive factor.

And how can small companies with limited resources strengthen their innovative power?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: We are often in conversation with SMEs and actually notice that things sometimes get stuck here. But I do not want to lump them all together, because each company is individual. But the difficulties are often similar - too few staff, too little capital, inadequate innovation management or being stuck in existing structures. Regularly thinking outside the box is also a success factor when it comes to innovation management. What I always urge SMEs to do is: "Actively look for partnerships, with other companies, with universities or, of course, with Bayern Innovativ."

Can we already say where innovation management will develop in the next few years?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: You can't rest on the successes of the past. Many things are happening much faster and more dynamically. We see this every day in both private and professional contexts. The modern concept of innovation, as we understand it, is primarily the exchange of knowledge across borders. I mention the keyword open innovation, i.e., developing oneself further together with others and combining knowledge from other industries with one's own.

In addition to the topic of open innovation, there is of course also the topic of digitization. I think that digitalization and Artificial Intelligence can and will be real enablers for innovation. Through AI, one will be able to use data to identify and implement the right trends, clues and measures for innovation.

So it is especially important for innovation management to identify trends in time?

Dr. Tanja Jovanovic: Yes, absolutely. The exposure to trends and technologies is a strategic success factor in innovation management, because this is the only way to maintain competitive advantages in the long term. Having knowledge and know-how that other companies do not have naturally gives you significant strategic advantages. Therefore, it is important to orientate and act at an early stage.

My team does this by actively scouting, set up technology and trend radars for various industries and topics, and by actively roadmapping processes. This is how we enable this orientation for our innovation activities and for our own innovation strategy in the first place. The central thing is to know where you actually want to go, what you have to do and how you emerge as a winner from this challenge.

The interview was conducted by Dr. Kord Pannkoke, Head of Business Development at Bayern Innovativ GmbH.

Listen to the full interview as a podcast:

Bayern Innovativ is also characterized by its pronounced technical expertise and is very interdisciplinary in its approach. For example, Bayern Innovativ has a lot of know-how in the fields of automotive, energy, material, health and bundles this very expertise with methodological knowledge. Bayern Innovativ recognized the added value of digitalization early on, and today uses digital methods for the innovation process. And of course, Bayern Innovativ creates indispensable support for the topic of open innovation with its networks. Because it is important to use cross-industry synergies to increase one's own competencies.