Title: Implementation of business process innovations: an agenda for research and action

Authors: Riitta Smeds

Addresses: Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, P.O. Box 9500, 02015 HUT, Finland

Abstract: Business process innovation capability is a source for sustainable competitiveness. Business process innovations create value added in the enterprise, and can trigger strategic renewal. The management of business process innovation requires empowering mechanisms for knowledge sharing and creation, and a dynamic umbrella strategy to give direction to the innovations. Lessons from product innovation should be applied strategic project portfolio management and an aggregate project plan help to manage a balanced mix of projects and to allocate resources, and systematic project management shortens the lead time of change. Business process simulation, and learning from one development project to the next, help to create a continuously improving business process innovation capability. At the end, the contents of each article in this Issue are briefly presented, divided in three main areas: conceptual analysis of the implementation problem, organisational learning and knowledge creation in innovation processes, and specific methods and tools for business process innovation.

Keywords: business processes; enterprise evolution; management of product and process innovation; implementation; continuous innovation capability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2001.002951

International Journal of Technology Management, 2001 Vol.22 No.1/2/3, pp.1-12

Published online: 08 Jul 2003 *

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