Let Innovation Thrive

Intelligent Enterprise: "J.P. Deschamps, in 'Managing Innovation: From Serendipity to Process' suggests that the innovation process has two stages: upstream and downstream. The upstream process senses and creates innovation opportunities. The downstream process converts an innovation into some kind of capital (such as a business model, product, or service).

However, even within these stages, at least five business processes are fundamental to innovation management: Road-mapping, scanning, collaborating, sparking, and shepherding.

A Gartner Research Note suggests that innovation management products are emerging in five categories:

Idea management
Innovation life-cycle management
Product development management
Environmental innovation management
"Outside-the-box" innovation management. "