How Does One Measure Innovation?

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:31:50 +0000

It is easy to measure performance and quality and other metrics because these are all either discrete or continuous data. However, how will one measure innovation? If someone has the initiative to change things and improve processes, how does one ultimately measure if the innovation applied is successful or effective? For years and years, the business community has not really figured out a way of measuring how effective implemented changes are. But now, there is an accepted way of measuring innovation and this is done to standardize innovation policies across the business and commerce sectors.

The truth is, we cannot quantify innovation. What we can measure is the process and if the people working on a certain company or organization will embrace these processes, the company is bound to achieve its goals. The people who run the company should also be willing to take risks in spending for innovation. One type of change or improvement may not really bring about satisfactory results. However, it is very likely that the next one will.

It is a given fact that innovation can be measured by the amount of profit it brings. However, this is only taken from the organization’s perspective. From a customer’s point of view, innovation always has something to do with amazing service. If this has something to do with a product, what people will be looking for is the features. People will only say that improvement exists if what used to be non-existent before exists now.

Just take television sets, for example. We now have LCD monitors that are a lot clearer, vivid, and thinner than the first generations of television sets. To a customer, this is the ultimate measure of innovation. They get more features than what they could have gotten, had the new television not been improved. The same principle applies in technology. Now, open sources are gaining popularity, as opposed to software programs that one has to buy. Today, companies develop software programs which all their customers can use for free but cannot buy. Innovation can also be measured based on its impact on people’s lives. If you take a closer look at the evolution of cellular phones, you would see how they have changed the pacing of how mankind goes round and about their daily tasks and jobs. The cellular phone has also changed the way people communicate.

There is really an issue on how people can see how innovation is effective. It has been contested that the ultimate metric is the return on investment. Many people say that any process that does not bring about more revenue is futile. The concept applied here is that we need to improve processes and products to get more customers to buy them. However, if there re no changes, then there will be no sense to implementing these at all.

However, people also say that profit is not the only way innovation should be measured. This is precisely because there are products that have never changed for many years. Accordingly, innovation is also measured at how fast these products and services get to the customers. Ultimately, it is customer satisfaction that will dictate and measure innovation.

By: Sam Miller

Technology Innovation » Lcd Monitors

How Does One Measure Innovation?