IM MATURITY
Tools & Assessments
One of the most valuable tools CIMS offers can assess a company’s level of innovation management proficiency. The Innovation Management Maturity Assessment (IMMA) is based on 30+ years of CIMS research into the best practices of leading corporations.
Here’s how it works: By department, or throughout your entire enterprise, rate your organization’s performance across the five core competencies and five management dimensions of innovation. Obtain valuable insight into its current proficiency for creating new, differentiated products and services. We help you identify potential IM ‘gaps’ and provide you the tools and programs to close them. This short diagnostic will give you a view into how innovation can be measured in your company. Your results are immediately “heat mapped” to illustrate your organization’s strengths and weaknesses. This easy-to-read display helps management prioritize improvement efforts.
The IM Maturity Assessment in a Nutshell.
- The assessment is divided into two parts: core competencies and management dimensions.
- Rate 10 components using a scale from 1 to 5.
- Respond from the perspective that gives you the most insight, whether it’s your function, your business unit, or your entire company.
- Provides a ‘common language’ to an entire organization as to what innovation is and how it can be managed.
Expand the Power of the IM Maturity Assessment
The real power of the assessment is realized when it is expanded to take into account the demographics of your organization –– for example, an employee’s length of tenure, position, function, etc. This provides management with more reliable results and a more convincing case for change.
To take the IM Maturity Assessment, click the link below. Contact CIMS for more information.
Related Articles in the CIMS Innovation Management Report:
- Identify Disruptive Innovations and Align Organization Behind Them — Kelly Services’ Innovation Journey (March/April 2015)
- Sustaining an Innovation Culture at BASF North America – How CIMS Diagnostic Helps (March/April 2014)
- Innovation Management Competencies that Can Boost Your New-Product ROA (and Cut R&D Costs) (November/December 2013)
- CIMS Tools and Big Data Analysis Drive Breakthrough Innovation For Industrial Organizations (Fall 2012)
- Innovation Officers: Let CIMS Help You Shape Your Firm’s Strategy (Spring 2012)
- Driving Culture Change at BASF (Spring 2012)
- Updating Our Tools for Competing in the Information Age (Spring 2011)
- CIMS Makes a Difference at Eisai (Winter 2011)
- More Minds, More Ideas, Better Solutions (Winter 2010)
- Reflections of a Serial Innovator (Fall 2009)
- Five Researchers (W&M) Probe How to Make Collaborative Innovation Work (Fall 2008)
Steps
Part 1: Core Competencies
Part 2: Management Dimensions
Idea Management >
Market Management >
Portfolio Management >
Platform Management >
Project Management
Strategy >
Organization & Culture >
Processes >
Tools & Techniques >
Metrics
Idea Management
Idea Management is the ability of a firm to effectively identify, assimilate, and qualify information regarding new technologies or ideas that can lead to highly differentiated, breakthrough products.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Idea Management:
Ad Hoc
Ideas about new breakthrough products and services are thought to be domain of R&D. Importance management places on innovation is questionable.
Defined
The R&D portfolio is segmented into "horizons" (e.g. H1, H2, H3). Investment focus on promising technologies with tools to help encourage formal submission of new ideas.
Managed
"Innovation board" exist for new ideas to be systematically reviewed. Time and resources allocated for idea development by cross funtional teams. Decision support tools help evaluate commercial viabiltiy and investment decisions.
Leveraged
Outside resources are embraced as key business partners, suppliers, and academics participate in the innovation process for breakthrough ideas. Monetary incentives drive development of innovative soltuions and complex problem solving.
Optimized
The organization is "ambidextrous" with distinct idea management capabilities at the front-end allows for incremental and radical ideas.
Market Management selects market opportunities and plans offerings in response to them that represent the greatest value to both the organization and to its customers.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Market Management:
Ad Hoc
Marketing primarily performed as a Sales function with anecdotal Information about markets - customers, competitors, emerging trends, etc. No strategic 'in-bound' marketing.
Defined
Trend analysis, customer probing and target segment research exist at various levels. Impacts to business strategy are understood. Comprehensive market management methodology developed.
Managed
Market analysis and buying behaviors define specific market segments with business strategy driven by market demand. Offerings, target segments and revenue potential are research based. Clear definition of value proposition with unique mix of product, price and service.
Leveraged
Market analysis changes from reactive to proactive and competitive response to future offerings is contained in unit business strategies and reflected in demand forecasts.
Optimized
The organization is 'market driven' with attractive, profit driven and differentiated products and services consistently produced resulting in improved market positing and new niche markets.
Portfolio Management allows a firm to manage a set of investment projects that are aligned with the business strategy, balanced, and generates the greatest economic return.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Portfolio Management:
Ad Hoc
Portfolio Management tends to be once a year event done on the eve of the budget cycle with loose connection to strategy to help achieve financial objectives.
Defined
Portfolio's financial objectives established and projects ranked on their economic value. Projects evaluated on their strategic 'fit' with documented, communicated budget process.
Managed
'Appetite for risk' is understood with periodic portfolio reviews against goal attainment and matched to strategic priorities. Projects funded based on meeting portfolio objectives. Weak projects are eliminated from the portfolio.
Leveraged
At periodic portfolio reviews, goals are adjusted and portfolio balanced based on market and customer shifts. Funding based on strategic priorities.
Optimized
Optimal investment mix between risk and return, cost/efficiency savings versus growth, and short-term versus long-term gains is constantly balanced so portfolio is fresh and responsive to market and strategy shifts.
Platform Management establishes platform strategy, references architecture, set of modular subsystems, and development plan for an entire product or service line.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Platform Management:
Ad Hoc
Disjointed Products and Services are developed "one off" with little sharing of ideas. Inventory and production costs could be eroding any profit there is.
Defined
Platform strategy formulated with identified growth areas and reference architecture established. Modular subsystems defined with derivative products for target market segments. 'Product/service family roadmap' serves as the master innovation plan.
Managed
Architecture Control Board in place. Common parts 'reuse' goals are tied to employee compensation. Quality and profitability of parts and platform is assured through establish architecture design standards that must be met at project decision gate reviews.
Leveraged
Product/service family targets are adjusted based on market / customer shifts with ability to quickly leverage technology and competencies into new markets.
Optimized
High levels of asset reuse are achieved across platforms / business units with continuous and planned platform renewal processes.
Project Management reliably and predictably guides projects through their phases of development so they deliver the economic and strategic values originally intended for them.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Project Management:
Ad Hoc
Project selection and funding is often political rather than fact based. Management 'meddles' in projects rather than 'provisioning' projects and project teams.
Defined
Project phases are documented and a set of well-defined stage-gate reviews established with Go/Kill project criteria established. Accounting systems recognize projects.
Managed
Measurable criteria established to fund projects at each phase. Fact-based business cases articulate risk, value and project alternatives with funding loopholes not allowed. Projects are monitored against plan with risk mitigation to ensure objectives achieved.
Leveraged
Project Management and Portfolio Management are integrated; projects must pass both project checkpoints and periodic portfolio reviews. Post launch data is collected and analyzed for new and unique market insights and becomes input for Market Management.
Optimized
Bottlenecks eliminated through the proper provisioning of projects with adequate resources. Pipeline loading techniques ensure the proper flow of projects.
Strategy defines the specific goals of the organization and exactly how the organization will achieve them. Strategy is only valuable when it creates change in the marketplace.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Strategy:
Ad Hoc
Business strategy is internally focused and sales/revenue plans require a 'leap of faith' to achieve. Lack of fact-driven, market based, top-down strategy process.
Defined
Innovation strategy based on the ability for new products and services to fit into the overall business plan and address target markets, product innovation goals, desired competitive position, distinctive competencies (strengths), and risk.
Managed
Business unit participation in a multi-year strategy planning process informed by a significant amount of market and customer research with innovation goals and quantitative benchmarks clearly defined. Projects are selected based on their strategic fit.
Leveraged
Business model is focused on innovation and nonessential functions for delivering differentiated products and services abandoned. Internal capabilities are constantly assessed.
Optimized
Strategy process is continuous throughout the year. Management steps out of their parochial roles and work on strategic priorities that cross all units.
Organization & Culture is the common language and background of how things get done. It is developed over time as people in the organization learn to deal with problems of adaptation and integration. Organization, on the other hand, is the formal alignment and direction of a firm's resources and skills toward achieving common goals.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Organization & Culture:
Ad Hoc
No recognition of the pivotal roles organization and culture play in innovation, primarily thought to be domain of R&D. Functional managers lack market perspective but control budgets.
Defined
Innovation recognized as a multidisciplinary team game. Cross-functional management system in place to lead and manage the business, empowered to make decisions with documented roles and responsibilities.
Managed
Management's words - and actions - support risk taking and invoke a common sense of urgency. Open input and idea generation is encouraged for all employees with direct recognition of budget necessary for strategic projects and 'heavy weight' project teams.
Leveraged
Organization-wide training programs are offered to 'embed' the critical skills to support innovation processes e.g. professional project manager, strategic market manager, etc.
Optimized
Innovation is embraced and so is informed and decisive decision making. Action oriented project teams with project leaders making the hard calls and keep the projects and business moving forward.
Processes define the patterns and actions of interaction, coordination, communication, and decision-making that people use to get work done.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Processes:
Ad Hoc
No 'standard' process exists with units using various methods for initiating and managing work. No common language for ascertaining project status. Business strategy execution impaired.
Defined
Project's management lifecycle is documented, available online to all employees and maintained in the organization's process library. General project phases and activities defined.
Managed
Process model to scope projects is utilized with management controls in place with milestones defined. Estimating cost, time line by phase; and required skill sets all integrated into process.
Leveraged
Process is benchmarked against best practices of successful companies. Improvement goals are set and post launch data and new market insight drives project teams when chartering new projects.
Optimized
Projects are run as if own business and project teams are empowered to advance phases. Projects are measured based on approved performance tolerances.
Tools & Techniques provide a mechanical or mental advantage in accomplishing a task. They facilitate communications and help process, analyze, and present data to aid management in decision-making.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Tools & Techniques:
Ad Hoc
Teams use familiar tools with disparate information for making decisions. Resources and time are often wasted trying to "digitize" tools before properly integrated and tested with the process.
Defined
Standard decision support tools made available to all project teams in the organization's process asset library. Training courses are offered; Employee attendance encouraged.
Managed
Management institutionalizes decision support tool set and insists on their mastery and use at checkpoint meetings. The innovation process - and organization - becomes fact based.
Leveraged
Well-defined IT blueprint allows for automation of tools and integration into the organizations innovation process. Project teams work in 'virtual workspaces' and 'team rooms' to facilitate collaboration.
Optimized
Sophisticated, 24x7 IT-based collaboration tools synchronize communications across the enterprise. Offerings are robust, cost less and are faster to produce. International project teams perspective with simultaneous reviews of product or service designs.
Metrics are a powerful management tool and are used to both motivate as well as measure the organization's IM proficiency.
Select the response that best describes the CURRENT level of IM maturity for Metrics:
Ad Hoc
Key performance indicators (KPI) are mostly financial and backwards looking. Innovation goals don't exist or are not clearly stated. Compensation disconnected from the innovation process.
Defined
A 'balanced' set of KPIs articulate the firm's innovation strategy as well as needed skills and learning objectives. Aggressive but achievable strategic goals and annual targets for each KPI are set and information is broadly disseminated.
Managed
KPIs appear on the scorecards of every business unit with regular progress reviews and open reporting to the organization. Compensated based on KPI attainment.
Leveraged
Project teams intuitively know what is important; project business cases articulate how KPI goals and targets will be achieved. Electronic dashboards monitor status of major innovation projects and overall portfolio performance.
Optimized
KPI goals are met or exceeded and is powerful motivation for the organization. KPI results included in annual reports and analyst meetings and "high performance" organization is recognized.
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Result
The following maps the results of how you rated innovation management proficiency. Note the core competencies and management dimensions intersect and affect an organizations ability to be efficient across all areas critical to successful innovation management. In each square, first number represents management dimensions and second number represents core competencies. The scoring for each is indicated below and the level of proficiency is indicated in color with the darker the color the more proficient you are at managing innovation in the indicated area.
Chart
Below are your results. Expand the IM Maturity Assessment to your business unit or your whole company. Learn how innovation can be learned, practiced, measured, and managed across your entire organization.
<< Ad Hoc
Optimized >>
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